Free Missouri Limited Power of Attorney Form

A Missouri limited power of attorney delegates authority to an attorney in fact for express subjects or purposes rather than for everything. Sections 404.700 to 404.737 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri govern these documents.

Missouri’s structure is built around how widely you delegate, and the wording does the limiting.

Express Subjects Keep It Narrow

You may grant general powers for all lawful subjects and purposes, or for one or more express subjects or purposes (§ 404.710(1)). Where you name express subjects, your agent’s authority reaches every action within those subjects, and no further (§ 404.710(3)).

Broad Wording Undoes the Limits

If the document says it grants power for all lawful subjects, or doesn’t limit the power to the specific purposes set out in it, the authority extends to virtually any matter. Listing a few specific subjects alongside that broad language doesn’t narrow it, unless the document says otherwise (§ 404.710(2)).

Twelve Acts Need Enumerating

Certain acts only pass to your agent if the document expressly enumerates and authorizes them (§ 404.710(6)). They include executing, amending, or revoking a trust, making or revoking gifts, disclaiming property, creating or changing survivorship interests or beneficiary designations, nominating a guardian or conservator, and naming substitute or successor agents.

Four Acts Are Off the Table

No power of attorney can authorize an agent to make or revoke your will, to make or revoke a living will declaration, to force you to act against your will, or to do anything you forbade while you had capacity (§ 404.710(7)).

For durability, yes. To keep working through your disability or incapacity, the document must be called a “Durable Power of Attorney,” include one of the two statements § 404.705 sets out, and be subscribed by you, dated, and acknowledged in the manner prescribed for conveyances of real estate.

Recording is separate. A durable power of attorney doesn’t have to be recorded to bind you, your agent, or third persons, except where recording is required for transactions affecting real estate (§ 404.705(3)).

One more rule helps your agent. A third person may rely on and deal with an agent who holds general powers over the subjects in the document, without checking whether a specific account or property falls inside them (§ 404.710(8)).

The wording matters more than the ceremony here. Work through these steps:

1. Name the express subjects or purposes, and nothing broader.
2. Avoid any “all lawful subjects” phrasing that would undo those limits.
3. Enumerate any of the twelve listed acts your agent genuinely needs.
4. Decide on durability, and add the title and statement if you want it.
5. Sign and date the document, and have it acknowledged as a real estate conveyance would be.
6. Record it with the recorder of deeds if a real estate transaction requires it.

Your Missouri limited power of attorney should name its boundaries in plain terms. Include:

• Your legal name and the name of your attorney in fact
• The express subjects or purposes, listed specifically
• Any enumerated acts from the § 404.710(6) list, if needed
• A statement limiting the power to those purposes
• A start point and an ending date or event
• Your dated signature and an acknowledgment

Your agent also can’t use a supplemental power of attorney to widen what you granted (§ 404.710(4)). So the original document sets the ceiling, which is exactly what you want from a Missouri limited power of attorney.

One duty runs alongside all of this. An agent with general powers, whether broad or limited to express subjects, must act on your instructions, in your best interest, in good faith, and prudently (§ 404.710(5)).