How to Fill Out the Minnesota DOPA (Delegation of Parental Authority)

To fill out the Minnesota DOPA (Delegation of Parental Authority), download the state form, enter your information along with your child’s and the chosen caregiver’s, check off the powers you want to delegate, set an end date no more than one year out, and sign in front of a notary. The form takes an afternoon. The person you name — called an attorney-in-fact — then has legal standing to handle your child’s school, medical, and daily needs until the DOPA expires or you revoke it in writing.¹

Before You Start

You can sign a DOPA if you’re a parent, a legal custodian, or a nonprofessional guardian of the minor. A court-appointed professional guardian can also delegate, but only for 30 days rather than a full year.¹

Prepare a separate DOPA for each child.² Three kids means three forms. Before you sit down with the form, gather:

Your full legal name and the Minnesota county where you live.
The child’s full legal name and date of birth, spelled exactly as they appear on the birth certificate and school records.
The attorney-in-fact’s full legal name and home county.

The attorney-in-fact doesn’t need any credentials. A grandparent, adult sibling, close friend, or neighbor can serve, as long as they’re an adult willing to take on what you spell out in the form.

Get the Standard State Form

Use the standardized Minnesota form. Schools, hospitals, and clinics recognize its format, which means fewer questions when your attorney-in-fact walks in. A fillable version is available free through LawHelpMN at www.lawhelpmn.org/forms under the Family Law category.³ A printable blank is also posted by MyLegalAid.⁴ County law libraries keep paper copies if you’d rather work from a printout.

Enter the Identifying Information

The form opens by asking who you are: parent, legal custodian, or guardian. Check the box that fits and write in your name and county. Then name the attorney-in-fact. Then enter the child’s name and birthday.

Spell every name exactly as it appears on official documents. A middle initial that’s on the birth certificate but missing from the DOPA, or a nickname instead of a legal first name, is the kind of mismatch that gets the form rejected at a school office or a clinic front desk. Fix it now rather than when your attorney-in-fact is standing at a counter.

Choose the Powers You’re Delegating

This is the section that actually decides what the attorney-in-fact can and cannot do. You can grant broad authority over all caregiving decisions, or you can limit it to specific areas. Common choices include:

School enrollment and records, including the authority to enroll the child, access academic records, and excuse absences for illness or appointments.
Medical and dental treatment, including taking the child to appointments and authorizing care as if the attorney-in-fact were the parent.²
Management of the child’s property or finances during the delegation period.

Be literal. Doctors and school staff read what’s on the page, and if a power isn’t listed, your attorney-in-fact gets turned away. If you’re not sure whether to include something, include it.

Set the Dates

Fill in when the delegation starts and when it ends. The maximum under Minnesota Statutes Section 524.5-211 is one year from the date you sign.¹ You can pick a shorter window — a few weeks or a few months — by writing in the specific end date. If you leave the expiration blank, the DOPA runs for the full year. Put the end date on your calendar. Once it passes, your attorney-in-fact has no legal authority to act, and you’d need to sign a new form to restore it.

Know What a DOPA Can’t Authorize

No matter how broadly you draft the form, a DOPA cannot give anyone power to consent to your child’s marriage or adoption.¹ Those decisions stay with you or with a court.

Several federal processes also fall outside what a DOPA covers. It does not authorize anyone to apply for a child’s U.S. passport; the State Department has its own consent requirements and Form DS-3053.⁵ It does not qualify someone to manage a child’s Social Security or SSI payments; that requires a separate representative payee appointment through SSA.⁶ And it is not a substitute for a travel consent letter if the attorney-in-fact plans to take your child outside the United States.⁷ If any of these apply to your situation, handle them with their own paperwork.

Sign It in Front of a Notary

The DOPA becomes effective when you sign it in front of a notary public.³ Your attorney-in-fact also signs the form, but their signature doesn’t need a notary. Without the notary stamp on your signature, schools and medical providers will reject the form, so don’t skip this step.

Notaries work at most banks, UPS stores, courthouse service centers, and some public libraries. Minnesota caps notary fees at $5 per acknowledgment or oath.⁸ Many banks notarize for free for their account holders. Bring a valid photo ID; the notary verifies your identity before witnessing your signature.

Give the Other Parent Notice

If you’re a parent signing a DOPA, you don’t need the other parent’s signature on the form. You do, however, have to mail or hand-deliver a copy to the other parent within 30 days of signing. Two situations remove that notice requirement: the other parent has no parenting time or only supervised parenting time, or there’s an active order for protection against that parent.¹ Note the delivery on your calendar once it’s done.

Distribute Copies

Give the original notarized form to the attorney-in-fact. They’ll present it whenever they act on your child’s behalf. Then get copies to everyone who may need to see one:

The child’s school, so the front office has it on file for enrollment, pickup, and attendance.
The child’s doctor and dentist, since medical offices need it before accepting the attorney-in-fact’s consent.
Your health insurance provider, if the attorney-in-fact may need to deal with coverage or claims.
The other parent, within 30 days, unless an exception above applies.

Keep a digital scan somewhere you can reach from anywhere. If the original gets lost, you can send a replacement the same day.

Ending It Early or Renewing

You can end the delegation anytime by putting the revocation in writing. A verbal statement isn’t enough; the schools and clinics holding the form need a written document to pull it from their file. Your revocation should include your name, the attorney-in-fact’s name, the date of the original DOPA, and a clear statement that you’re revoking all delegated authority. Sign it, date it, and send copies to the attorney-in-fact and to everyone who got the original.

A DOPA cannot be extended.² If you still need coverage when the end date approaches, fill out a fresh form, notarize it, and redistribute copies. Start a week or two before the current one expires so there’s no gap. Even a short lapse leaves the attorney-in-fact unable to sign a school form or authorize a doctor’s visit, and that gap tends to surface at the worst possible moment.

1
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 524.5-211 – Delegation of Power by Parent or Guardian
2
LawHelpMN. Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA)
3
LawHelpMN. Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA)
4
MyLegalAid. Minnesota Delegation of Parental Authority Form
5
U.S. Department of State. Apply for a Child’s Passport Under 16
6
Social Security Administration. A Guide for Representative Payees
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Children Traveling to Another Country Without Their Parents
8
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 357.17 – Notaries Public