Family · Power of attorney
Power of Attorney Requirements in Michigan
What it takes to sign a valid durable financial power of attorney in Michigan: whether it must be notarized, how many witnesses are required, the statutory form, and whether it stays in effect if you become incapacitated. Cited to the statute.
How to sign a valid power of attorney in Michigan
The signature, notarization, and witness requirements, the statutory form, and the language that makes the power durable.
Michigan changed regimes on July 1, 2024, and many forms and secondary sources still describe the repealed EPIC sections at MCL 700.5501 to 700.5505. Confirm the current text of the Michigan Uniform Power of Attorney Act before relying on this.
| How to sign a valid POA | What it means |
|---|---|
| A signature makes it effective | Under MCL 556.205(1), a power of attorney created on or after the effective date is effective when signed by the principal, or, if signed in the principal’s conscious presence, by another individual the principal directs to sign the principal’s name. |
| Notarize for durability | MCL 556.205(2)(a) makes the document durable when it is acknowledged by the principal before a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments. This route is available where the principal personally signed. |
| Or sign before two witnesses | MCL 556.205(2)(b) offers a second route to durability, signing in the presence of two witnesses who both also sign the power. A witness may not be an agent nominated in the power, and one of the two witnesses may also be the notary. |
| Durability depends on how you execute it | MCL 556.204 is titled a limited presumption of durability. A power executed under 556.205(2) or (3) is durable unless it says otherwise, but a power not executed that way is not durable. Michigan is the only one of its neighbors where durability is not automatic. |
| A proxy signature forces the two-witness route | Under MCL 556.205(3), if someone else signs the principal’s name at the principal’s direction, the power must be signed before two witnesses to be durable, regardless of whether it is also notarized. |
| A statutory form is published | MCL 556.401 provides the Michigan Statutory Form Power of Attorney, with lines for two witnesses and a notary certificate, and it explains the durability rule in plain-language caution boxes. |
| Limits and special rules | What it means |
|---|---|
| The witness-only route costs third-party protection | Under MCL 556.205(5), a signature witnessed under (2)(b) but not acknowledged before a notary is not entitled to the genuineness presumption and is not acknowledged for purposes of the sections that penalize a wrongful refusal. That route produces a durable but comparatively fragile instrument. |
| Documents made before July 1, 2024 are grandfathered | MCL 556.206(1) validates a power of attorney executed in Michigan if execution complied with Michigan law when it was made, so a properly made pre-2024 EPIC durable power of attorney is still good. |
| Out-of-state and military documents | MCL 556.206(2) validates a power executed elsewhere if execution complied with the law of the jurisdiction determining its meaning and effect, the law where the principal was domiciled at execution, or the military requirements at 10 U.S.C. § 1044b. |
| The agent’s authority ends at death | A power of attorney ends when the principal dies. It also ends on revocation, and, for a non-durable power, on the principal’s incapacity. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps to sign a power of attorney that will hold up in Michigan. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Use the statutory form or have a lawyer draft it
Start from the Michigan Statutory Form Power of Attorney in MCL 556.401, or have an estate-planning attorney draft one, and make sure it is executed for durability if you want it to survive incapacity.
- Notarize it, or sign before two witnesses
Notarizing alone makes it durable when you sign personally. Two witnesses are an alternative, and are required on top of everything else if someone signs the power on your behalf.
- Give copies to the agent and your institutions
Provide signed copies to your agent and to the banks and other institutions the agent will deal with, keeping the executed original safe.
A power of attorney gives someone broad authority over your money and property, and a defective one can be rejected by a bank when you need it most. A licensed estate-planning attorney can draft or review one; the state bar can refer you to one.
→ State Bar of Michigan, Lawyer Referral and Information ServiceThis is general legal information, not legal advice. Execution rules and the powers you can grant turn on the exact statute and your situation, so confirm the current requirements against the statute and talk to a lawyer.
What people in Michigan get wrong about a power of attorney
Michigan changed its power of attorney regime on July 1, 2024, and many forms and secondary sources have not caught up. The old durable power of attorney sections in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code, MCL 700.5501 to 700.5505, were repealed by 2023 PA 187, and Michigan now follows the Uniform Power of Attorney Act at MCL 556.201 to 556.505. Under the new law a bare signature makes a power of attorney effective, but durability is not automatic, which is Michigan’s headline oddity and the trap in the statute. To be durable under MCL 556.205(2), the document must be either acknowledged before a notary or signed in front of two witnesses who also sign, and MCL 556.204 says in terms that a power not executed one of those ways is not durable. So a Michigan power of attorney can be perfectly effective and completely non-durable at the same time. If someone signs the principal’s name at the principal’s direction, MCL 556.205(3) requires the two-witness route regardless of notarization. One witness may double as the notary, which is the opposite of Georgia’s rule. Michigan publishes a statutory form at MCL 556.401 that spells the durability rule out in caution boxes, and the honest practical advice is to notarize, because that satisfies durability on its own when you sign personally. This is legal information, not legal advice.
Common questions
Does a power of attorney need to be notarized in Michigan?
Not to be effective, but effectively yes to be durable. Under MCL 556.205 a Michigan power of attorney is durable only if it is either notarized or signed before two witnesses, and notarizing is the safer of the two routes.
How many witnesses does a Michigan power of attorney need?
Zero if the principal signs personally and the document is notarized. Two if it is not notarized, or if someone else signs the principal’s name. One of the two witnesses may also be the notary.
Is a Michigan power of attorney automatically durable?
No. This is unusual. Under MCL 556.204 a power of attorney is durable only if it was executed under MCL 556.205(2) or (3), meaning notarized or signed before two witnesses. Anything else is not durable.
Did Michigan change its power of attorney law?
Yes. Effective July 1, 2024, 2023 PA 187 repealed the old EPIC sections at MCL 700.5501 to 700.5505 and adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act at MCL 556.201 to 556.505.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.