How to Get a Power of Attorney in Michigan: Types, Signing, and Costs

To get a power of attorney in Michigan, decide which type of document fits the decisions you want covered, complete it with the required information, and sign it under the rules that apply to that type — a notary for a financial power of attorney, or two qualified witnesses for a Patient Advocate Designation. Michigan’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act, effective July 1, 2024, governs financial documents and includes a statutory form you can use.¹ Healthcare decisions fall under a separate statute with different signing rules.² Out-of-pocket costs range from about $10 for notarization to $200–$600 if you hire an attorney to draft the document.

Choose the Right Type First

Michigan does not have a single “power of attorney.” What you sign depends on what you want your agent to handle.

A financial power of attorney lets your agent pay bills, manage investments, sell real estate, handle tax filings, and conduct banking transactions. It can be broad or narrow.

A Patient Advocate Designation is Michigan’s version of a healthcare power of attorney. The state does not use that term. This document names someone to make medical and mental health treatment decisions when you cannot participate in them yourself, and the designation must include a statement saying the advocate’s authority activates only at that point.²

A limited or special power of attorney restricts authority to one task or time period, such as signing closing documents on a home sale while you are out of state. It ends automatically once the task is done.³

Durable, Non-Durable, or Springing

A durable power of attorney continues if you later lose mental capacity, which is often the whole reason for signing one. Under the current law, a financial power of attorney signed on or after July 1, 2024 is automatically durable as long as it is properly notarized, unless the document specifically states it ends upon incapacity.¹ A non-durable document terminates the moment you become incapacitated.

A springing power of attorney takes effect only when a specified event occurs, most commonly a physician’s determination that you are incapacitated. The document should define the trigger precisely. Springing provisions can give peace of mind, but they can also delay action because the agent must prove the triggering event before anyone will honor the document.

Who Can Create One and Serve as Agent

You must be at least 18 and mentally capable of understanding what the document does, what decisions your agent will make, and how those decisions affect you and your property.¹ The same age and capacity requirements apply to your agent.²

Your agent must voluntarily accept the appointment. Acceptance carries fiduciary duties, so choose someone who understands what they are taking on. Name at least one successor agent as well. If your first choice cannot serve and no backup is listed, the document may lose its usefulness and your family could end up in probate court seeking a guardian or conservator.

What to Put in the Document

A working power of attorney should include:

Full legal names and addresses for you, your primary agent, and any successor agents
The categories of decisions your agent can make, such as banking, real estate, investments, tax matters, or government benefits
Whether the document takes effect immediately or upon a triggering event like a physician’s incapacity determination
Any limitations, such as accounts your agent cannot touch or property they cannot sell
A statement on compensation; the statutory form allows reasonable compensation unless you say otherwise in the special instructions¹
The legal description of any real estate involved, so the document can be recorded with the county Register of Deeds

Michigan’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act contains a statutory form that covers most common financial situations, and it appears within the text of the Act. The State of Michigan provides sample forms for advance directives, which cover the medical side.⁴

Powers That Need Express Authorization

Even a broad financial power of attorney does not automatically cover every action. Michigan law identifies several high-stakes powers that your agent can exercise only if the document expressly says so:

Making gifts of your money or property, even to family
Changing beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, or similar assets
Creating, amending, or revoking a trust on your behalf
Changing survivorship rights on jointly held property
Delegating the agent’s authority to someone else
Managing foreign bank or securities accounts

A general grant of authority will not do. The document must state these powers in clear terms.⁵ An agent who makes gifts or changes beneficiaries without express authorization can face personal liability, and the transactions can be undone.

Signing the Document

This is the step that most often trips people up. The rules differ depending on which document you are signing, and getting them wrong can make the whole thing unenforceable.

Financial Power of Attorney

Sign the document yourself, or direct another person to sign your name in your conscious presence. To make the document durable, your signature must be acknowledged before a notary public.¹ Even when durability is not the goal, notarization is strongly recommended because it makes third parties far more willing to accept the document. Your agent should also sign an acceptance of appointment before acting under the document.

Michigan caps notary fees at $10 per notarial act, and many banks and credit unions notarize documents free for their customers.⁶ Notarial acts can also be performed remotely through an approved electronic platform. The notary must verify your identity and keep a journal of the transaction for at least 10 years.⁷

Patient Advocate Designation

A Patient Advocate Designation must be signed in front of two witnesses, and Michigan law is strict about who cannot serve as a witness. The following people are disqualified:

Your spouse, parent, child, grandchild, or sibling
Your presumptive heir or anyone named in your will
The patient advocate you are appointing
Your physician
An employee of your health insurance provider, the healthcare facility treating you, or a residential care facility where you live
An employee of a community mental health program or hospital providing you with mental health services

These restrictions protect you from pressure by people with a personal or financial stake in your medical decisions.² Both witnesses must sign and date the document. Before the designation can be used, it must also be placed in your medical record with your treating physician or the facility where you are located.

What It Costs

Doing this yourself with the statutory form is inexpensive. Notarization costs up to $10 per notarial act, and many banks waive it for account holders.⁶ If real estate is involved and the document needs to be recorded with the county Register of Deeds, recording fees vary by county but generally run from about $15 to $45.

Hiring an attorney typically costs between $200 and $600, depending on the complexity of your finances and whether you bundle the power of attorney with a will, trust, or other estate planning documents. An attorney is especially worth the money when you want specific gifting authority, trust powers, or other non-standard provisions that the basic statutory form does not cover.

After You Sign

Share copies with everyone who may need to rely on the document. For a financial power of attorney, give copies to your agent, your bank, investment firms, and any other institution where the agent may need to act. For a Patient Advocate Designation, provide copies to your primary care physician, any specialists you see regularly, and the hospital system you are most likely to use. The designation must be placed in your medical record before it can be implemented.²

Keep the original somewhere secure but accessible, like a fireproof safe at home, and make sure your agent knows where it is. Giving your agent a certified copy lets them act quickly in an emergency without hunting down the original.

If You Want to Revoke It Later

You can revoke your power of attorney at any time while you are mentally competent. Notify your agent in writing that their authority has ended, and tell any banks, healthcare providers, or other institutions that have a copy so they stop honoring it. If the original was recorded with a county Register of Deeds for a real estate transaction, record the revocation there too.

A power of attorney also terminates automatically in several situations: your death, your incapacity if the document is not durable, filing for divorce or legal separation if your agent is your spouse (unless the document says otherwise), your agent’s death, incapacity, or resignation when no successor is named, and the completion of the task in a limited power of attorney.

Signing a new power of attorney does not automatically cancel an older one. If you want the previous document revoked, the new one must explicitly say so.³

What This Document Will Not Do

A Michigan financial power of attorney does not by itself authorize your agent to deal with the IRS on your behalf. Federal tax representation requires IRS Form 2848, and only licensed attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, and certain other qualified people can represent you before the IRS. The form must list the specific tax matters and tax years covered; language like “all years” is not accepted.⁸ If you want your agent to handle federal tax issues, that is a separate form to complete.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Uniform Power of Attorney Act – Act 187 of 2023
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 700.5506
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Uniform Power of Attorney Act – Section 556.210
4
State of Michigan. Michigan Advance Directive for Mental Health Care
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 556.301 – Express or Specific Grant of Authority
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Law on Notarial Acts – Act 238 of 2003
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 55.286b
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2848 Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative