Download Ohio Durable Power of Attorney Form [PDF]

The Ohio durable power of attorney (durable POA) is a legal document that enables one person to authorize another person to represent them before governmental, financial, medical, or other institutions and third parties.

A durable power of attorney will remain valid and effective even if the principal becomes incapacitated.

The principal can use the Ohio durable power of attorney in every situation where they are not able to represent themselves personally. This can be due to their bad physical or mental state (dementia or Alzheimer’s disease), old age, disability, or simply because they lack the professional knowledge to take certain actions, like certain legal or tax-related activities.

Durable Power of Attorney Laws & Requirements in Ohio

Laws & Requirements

Relevant laws: Title 13, Chapter 1337 - Powers of Attorney
Signature requirements: The principal must sign the durable power of attorney before the notary public or other individual authorized to take the acknowledgments. (§ 1337.25)
Statutory form: The Ohio Statute provides the statutory form for the power of attorney at § 1337.60.
“Durable” as defined by the state law: According to § 1337.22(B), “Durable,” with respect to a power of attorney, means not terminated by the principal’s incapacity.

How to Fill out a Durable Power of Attorney in Ohio

#1. Designate an Agent

Firstly, you should determine the person who will act on your behalf and represent your interests. The agent should be an adult with the legal capacity to act.

Moreover, your agent should be trustworthy, especially if you are planning to authorize them to make decisions regarding your healthcare and finances.

If you need to complete certain actions regarding legal or tax-related matters, you should look for an agent with professional knowledge in these fields.

Here, you can also name a successor agent who will act in case the primary agent becomes incapacitated or, in some other way, unable to represent you.

#2. Grant Authority

After you have determined the agent and successor agent, you should define their scope of authority.

There are three main options when determining the scope of authority in the Ohio durable power of attorney form:

Scope of Authority

General authority. With this option, your agent will be enabled to take all the necessary actions and interact with all the third parties on your behalf. You can limit the general authority by providing a list of activities that are not included in your agent’s scope of authority.
Partial authority. Here, you can select the activities you want to include in your agent’s scope of authority from the list of activities provided in the durable power of attorney form. You can select the activity you want to include by signing your initials next to the relevant one.
Special authority. This option enables you to describe your agent’s scope of authority in your own words. This gives you the flexibility to include the activities that are not provided in the durable power of attorney form.

#3. Ensure the Form is Durable

In Ohio, the power of attorney is presumed to be durable. That means that if you want your power of attorney to be non-durable, you must explicitly state so in the document.

#4. Sign the Form

According to the signing requirements for a durable power of attorney in Ohio, the principal or another person, in their conscious presence, must sign the durable power of attorney.

#5. Notarize the Form

In Ohio, the principal or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments must notarize the durable power of attorney. By notarizing the document, the notary public will acknowledge the principal’s signature and the overall authenticity of the document.

#6. Store Your Durable Power of Attorney Form

After finalizing the document, you should keep the original copy in your possession and in a safe place.

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

How to Revoke a Durable Power of Attorney in Ohio

You can revoke the Ohio durable power of attorney by issuing a verbal or written revocation, destroying the document with the intention of revoking it or creating a new power of attorney that will revoke the previous one.

The most efficient way to revoke the durable power of attorney, however, is by issuing a revocation letter. This letter should include the name of the agent and the date of issuance of the power of attorney you want to revoke.

To make the revocation effective, you should give a copy to the agent and to each third party they are interacting with on your behalf.