Download Minnesota Durable Power of Attorney Form [PDF]

The Minnesota durable power of attorney (DPOA) is a document used for transferring powers from one person to another. The person transferring the powers is called the principal, while the person representing the principal is called the agent or the attorney-in-fact.

The principal can issue a durable power of attorney in every situation when they are not able to personally complete a certain action or make a certain decision. This can happen due to a certain disability, like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, or an overall bad physical or mental state.

However, it can also happen due to the lack of the principal’s professional knowledge in some field when they hire a lawyer or an accountant.

Durable Power of Attorney Laws & Requirements in Minnesota

Laws & Requirements

Relevant Laws: Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 523 - Powers of Attorney
Signing requirements: The principal must sign the document before the notary public. The agent also has to sign the power of attorney, but their signature doesn’t have to be acknowledged by the notary public.
Statutory form: The Minnesota law provides a statutory form for the power of attorney at § 523.23.
“Durable” as defined by the state law: The Minnesota Statute, § 523.07, states that a power of attorney is durable if it contains language such as “This power of attorney shall not be affected by incapacity or incompetence of the principal,” or “This power of attorney shall become effective upon the incapacity or incompetence of the principal,” or similar wording.

How to Fill out a Durable Power of Attorney in Minnesota

#1. Designate an Agent

Here, you should provide the full name and mailing address of the principal and the agent.

Your agent should be someone of legal age and with the legal capacity to represent you. The agent should also be someone you can trust, especially if you are authorizing them to make decisions regarding your finances and health care.

In this section, you can also name the successor agent. This is the person who will act in case the primary agent becomes incapacitated or, in some other way, becomes unable to represent you.

#2. Grant Authority

Once you have determined your agent, you should define their scope of authority.

The durable power of attorney form provides three main ways you can define your agent’s scope of authority:

Scope of Authority

General authority. Here, you will enable your agent to take all the necessary actions and to interact with any third party on your behalf. You can limit the general authority by providing the actions they cannot take and third parties they cannot interact with.
Partial authority. With this option, you can select the activities you want your agent to be able to perform from the list of activities provided in the durable power of attorney form. You select the activity by signing your initials next to it.
Specific authority. This option gives you the most flexibility since you can define the scope of authority in your own words. In this way, you can provide the activities that are not included in the durable power of attorney form in the partial authority section.

#3. Ensure the Form is Durable

If you want your power of attorney to remain valid even if you become incapacitated, you must make it durable.

In Minnesota, the power of attorney must include specific language to be durable.

#4. Sign the Form

You must sign the form before the notary public. The agent must also sign the document. However, his signature doesn’t have to be notarized.

#5. Notarize the Form

The notary public will acknowledge the principal’s signature and the overall authenticity of the power of attorney.

#6. Store Your Durable Power of Attorney Form

You should always keep a durable power of attorney in your possession and store it in a safe place.

You can give one copy to the agent so they can prove their capacity to any third person they are interacting with on your behalf.

How to Revoke a Durable Power of Attorney in Minnesota

The best way to revoke the Minnesota durable power of attorney is to issue a revocation letter. This letter should include the name of the agent and the date of issue of the power of attorney you want to revoke.

For the revocation to become effective, you must give one copy of the revocation letter to the agent and to every third party the agent is interacting with on your behalf.