How to Fill Out the Arkansas Statutory Power of Attorney Form

To fill out the Arkansas statutory power of attorney form, enter your full legal name and contact information as the principal, name your agent (and ideally one or two successor agents), initial each category of authority you want to grant, add any custom terms in the Special Instructions section, then sign the document in front of a notary public. The form is set out at Arkansas Code § 28-68-301 and covers financial and property matters only. For medical decisions you need a separate healthcare power of attorney; the statutory form itself states that it “does not authorize the agent to make healthcare decisions for you.”¹ The form also cannot be used to make or change a will.

One thing to know going in: the form is durable by default. Under Arkansas Code § 28-68-110, a power of attorney continues through the principal’s incapacity unless it says otherwise, and the statutory form’s language that the agent may act “whether or not you are able to act for yourself” builds that durability in.² If you want the opposite, you have to override it in Special Instructions.

Gather the Names and Information You’ll Need

The form asks for the full legal name, address, and telephone number of three sets of people: you (the principal), your primary agent, and up to two optional successor agents.¹ Before you write anyone in, confirm they’re willing to serve. An agent who never agreed creates problems later, and a successor who doesn’t know they’re listed may be unreachable when needed.

Name at least one successor agent. Successors step in only when every agent ahead of them has resigned, died, become incapacitated, or declined to serve.³ Without one, the power of attorney dies with your primary agent’s ability to serve, and if you’re already incapacitated by then your family is looking at a court guardianship.

Fill In the Agent and Successor Agent Blocks

The main designation block has space for only one primary agent. Write that person’s full legal name, address, and phone number. Do the same in the successor blocks for your first and (if desired) second alternate.

If you want two people to serve together as co-agents, the standard fields won’t accommodate that. Name the additional co-agent in Special Instructions at the bottom of the form and state whether they must act jointly or can act independently of each other.

Initial the Categories of Authority You Want to Grant

The core of the form is a list of subject-matter categories. You grant authority by initialing next to each category your agent should handle. Arkansas Code §§ 28-68-204 through 28-68-216 define the scope of each one.⁴ The categories are:

Real Property: buying, selling, managing, and mortgaging land and buildings
Tangible Personal Property: vehicles, furniture, jewelry, and other physical belongings
Stocks and Bonds: trading securities and managing brokerage accounts
Commodities and Options: commodity contracts and derivative instruments
Banks and Other Financial Institutions: opening and closing accounts, writing checks, making deposits
Operation of Entity or Business: managing a business, partnership, or LLC
Insurance and Annuities: purchasing, canceling, or cashing in policies
Estates, Trusts, and Other Beneficial Interests: managing trust interests and estate claims
Claims and Litigation: filing lawsuits, settling claims, hiring attorneys
Personal and Family Maintenance: paying household bills, managing living arrangements
Benefits from Governmental Programs or Civil or Military Service: applying for and managing government benefits
Retirement Plans: managing 401(k)s, IRAs, and pension accounts
Taxes: preparing and filing tax returns, dealing with tax authorities

To grant everything at once, skip the individual lines and initial the single “All Preceding Subjects” line. Most people creating a general-purpose durable power of attorney take that route. If your needs are narrower, say managing a rental property while you’re abroad, initial only the categories that apply.

Separately Initial Any Special Authority You Want to Grant

Seven kinds of action are serious enough that Arkansas law requires you to grant them expressly. General authority is not enough; initialing “All Preceding Subjects” does not cover any of these. The form includes a “Grant of Special Authority” section with its own initial lines for:⁵

Making gifts of your property
Creating, amending, or revoking a living trust
Creating or changing rights of survivorship on accounts or property
Changing beneficiary designations on insurance, retirement plans, or payable-on-death accounts
Delegating the agent’s own authority to someone else
Waiving your right to a survivor annuity or retirement plan survivor benefit
Exercising fiduciary powers you have the authority to delegate

If your agent is not your ancestor, spouse, or descendant, an additional limit applies regardless of what you initial: that agent cannot use the power of attorney to give your property to themselves or to anyone they’re legally obligated to support.⁵

If you grant gifting authority, know what you’re authorizing. Unless the form says otherwise, your agent can make gifts only up to the federal annual gift tax exclusion per recipient, which is $19,000 per donee for 2026, or $38,000 if your spouse consents to split the gift.⁶⁷ The agent must also decide each gift is consistent with your known objectives or, if those aren’t known, with your best interest, weighing the value of your property, your foreseeable needs, tax implications, and your history of gift-giving.

Use the Special Instructions Section If You Need To

Most people leave the open-ended Special Instructions area blank. It’s where you customize anything the checkboxes don’t handle. Common uses:

Making the power of attorney “springing.” By default it takes effect the moment you sign. If you want it to activate only on your incapacity, say so here and state how incapacity will be determined, typically by a written statement from one or two physicians.
Setting agent compensation. The form entitles your agent to reasonable compensation unless you say otherwise. If you want unpaid service or a specific rate, write it in.
Naming co-agents and specifying whether they must act jointly or may act independently.
Raising, lowering, or eliminating the statutory gift cap to match your estate plan.

Sign the Form in Front of a Notary

Arkansas Code § 28-68-105 requires the principal to sign the power of attorney, or to direct another person to sign in the principal’s conscious presence.⁸ The second option is for principals physically unable to sign; you still have to be present and direct the signing.

Your signature is presumed genuine if you acknowledge it before a notary public.⁸ Notarization isn’t technically required for validity, but treat it as required. Banks and title companies will likely refuse an unnotarized document, and the third-party acceptance protections under § 28-68-120 apply specifically to an “acknowledged” statutory form. Arkansas notaries set their own fees, which must be reasonable and disclosed before the notarization.⁹ A single acknowledgment typically runs from a few dollars to around $10.

Record the Document If It Will Be Used for Real Estate

If your agent will handle any real estate transaction, record the signed, notarized form with the circuit clerk in the county where the property sits. Arkansas law requires the recorder to accept properly acknowledged powers of attorney concerning real property.¹⁰ Recording fees are typically $15 for the first page and $5 per additional page. The statutory form with a notary block usually runs two to three pages, so expect around $20 to $25.

For purposes that don’t touch real estate, such as bank accounts, bill paying, or insurance, recording isn’t required. Give a notarized copy to each institution your agent will deal with.

Getting Banks and Other Institutions to Accept the Form

One of the practical reasons to use the statutory form is that Arkansas law forces third parties to act on a tight timeline. Under Arkansas Code § 28-68-120, a person presented with an acknowledged statutory form must either accept it or request a certification, translation, or legal opinion within seven business days, and then has five business days after receiving that documentation to accept. A third party cannot demand a different form of power of attorney when the statutory form already grants the authority in question. A party that refuses in violation of these rules faces a court order compelling acceptance and liability for your reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.¹¹

Refusal is allowed in a few situations: actual knowledge that the agent’s authority has terminated, a good-faith belief the document is invalid, or a report of suspected financial abuse of the principal to the Department of Human Services.¹¹

Federal Agencies That Won’t Honor the Form

Two federal agencies won’t accept the Arkansas statutory form no matter how carefully you fill it out. The IRS requires its own Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, for anyone representing you before the agency on tax matters.¹² Initialing “Taxes” on the Arkansas form lets your agent prepare and file your returns, but it won’t get them through the door for audits, appeals, or account resolution.

The Social Security Administration is stricter still. The SSA does not recognize any power of attorney for managing Social Security or SSI benefits; its guide states that “a power of attorney isn’t an acceptable way to manage a person’s monthly benefits.” Someone who needs to manage those benefits must apply separately to become a representative payee.¹³ If Social Security income is in the picture, plan for that separate process.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-301 – Statutory Form Power of Attorney
2
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-110 – Termination of Power of Attorney
3
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-111 – Coagents and Successor Agents
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Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-204 – Real Property
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FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 28 – Wills, Estates, and Fiduciary Relationships 28-68-201
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Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-217 – Gifts
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Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
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FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 28 – Wills, Estates, and Fiduciary Relationships 28-68-105
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Justia. Arkansas Code 21-6-309 – Notaries Public
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Arkansas Code. Arkansas Code 14-15-402 – Instruments to Be Recorded
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FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 28 – Wills, Estates, and Fiduciary Relationships 28-68-120
12
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
13
Social Security Administration. A Guide for Representative Payees