How to Get Power of Attorney in Nebraska: Forms, Signing, and Revocation

To get a power of attorney in Nebraska, you pick the form that fits what you need done, name an agent you trust, sign the document in front of a notary (and witnesses, for healthcare), and deliver copies to the banks, doctors, and family members who will need to rely on it. Nebraska’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act governs the process, and every power of attorney signed after January 1, 2013, is automatically durable unless the document says otherwise, meaning your agent’s authority continues if you become incapacitated.¹

Decide Which Type of Power of Attorney You Need

Nebraska treats financial and healthcare powers of attorney as two separate documents with different rules. Naming someone to handle your money gives them no authority over your medical care, and the reverse is also true.² Most people who are planning ahead sign both.

A financial power of attorney can be broad, letting your agent handle banking, investments, taxes, insurance, real estate, retirement accounts, and business operations, or it can be narrow, limited to a single transaction or a set period. The Nebraska statutory form lets you check off each category of authority individually.³

A healthcare power of attorney authorizes your agent to make medical decisions when you cannot speak for yourself, and it lets you include instructions about life-sustaining treatment and artificially administered nutrition.⁴

You also need to decide when the authority starts. By default, a Nebraska power of attorney takes effect as soon as you sign it. If you want it to kick in only after you lose capacity, you can create a “springing” power of attorney and name one or more people to decide whether the triggering event has happened. If you don’t name anyone to make that call, authority begins when a licensed physician or psychologist, or a court, determines you are incapacitated.⁵

If you already have a power of attorney from another state, Nebraska will honor it as long as it was valid where it was signed, and military powers of attorney executed under federal law are also valid here.⁶ Some Nebraska banks and title companies prefer the state’s own statutory form, so new residents often sign a fresh document to avoid friction.

Choose Your Agent and a Successor

You must be at least 18 and mentally competent to create a power of attorney, and your agent must also be at least 18 and competent.⁷ You can name more than one person as co-agents, and unless the document says otherwise, each co-agent can act independently without needing the other’s sign-off.

Name at least one successor agent. If your only named agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns and no successor is listed, the power of attorney terminates and you’re left without representation.⁸ Choose people who can manage pressure and money, who don’t have an obvious conflict of interest, and who you’d actually trust with full control over your finances or healthcare.

Get the Right Form

The Nebraska Judicial Branch publishes free fillable forms on its website. Form DC 6:12 is the financial power of attorney, with instructions at DC 6:12a. Form DC 6:13 is the healthcare power of attorney, with instructions at DC 6:13a.² The Nebraska Uniform Power of Attorney Act also contains a statutory form that institutions across the state are required to recognize.³

These forms work for most situations. If you have substantial assets, business interests, or blended-family concerns, an attorney can draft something tailored to your circumstances. Hiring a lawyer typically costs several hundred dollars depending on complexity.

Spell Out Any Special Powers You Want to Grant

Nebraska law blocks certain high-stakes actions unless the document explicitly authorizes them. Even a sweeping grant of “general authority” does not include the power to:

Make gifts of your property
Create or change beneficiary designations on accounts or policies
Create or change rights of survivorship
Create, amend, or revoke a trust
Delegate authority to someone else
Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity or retirement plan
Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate
Renounce or disclaim property or a power of appointment

If you want your agent to be able to do any of these, each one has to be called out specifically in the document.⁹¹⁰ Gift authority in particular is a frequent source of trouble: an agent who makes large gifts without clear authorization can create legal liability and tax problems.

You can also use the document to adjust defaults. If you don’t want your agent compensated, say so. Otherwise your agent is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable expenses and reasonable compensation for their services, which invites disagreement about what “reasonable” means in your situation.¹¹

Sign the Document Correctly

A completed form has no legal effect until it’s signed the right way, and the requirements differ by document type.

Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney must be acknowledged before a notary public. The statute states plainly that the document is “not valid” without notarization.¹² You sign the document (or direct someone to sign in your conscious presence), and the notary confirms the signature is genuine. A Nebraska notary may charge $5 for taking an acknowledgment, plus mileage if the notary travels to you.¹³

Healthcare Power of Attorney

A healthcare power of attorney gives you two choices: sign in front of two adult witnesses, or sign before a notary. Each witness must either see you sign and date the document or hear you acknowledge your signature. If you use a notary instead, that notary cannot also be the person you’re naming as your agent or successor agent.¹⁴ The statute doesn’t impose further restrictions on who can witness beyond being an adult, but picking people with no stake in your care is a practical safeguard.

Record and Distribute Copies

If your power of attorney covers real estate, record it with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits. Recording puts the public on notice that your agent can act on property transactions, and any future revocation of that authority must also be filed with the same office before it takes effect against the property.¹⁵ Recording fees vary by county.

Deliver copies of a financial power of attorney to every institution your agent may need to deal with: banks, brokerages, insurance companies, your accountant. Many will want to review the document before granting access, so handing it over before an emergency saves time. For a healthcare power of attorney, give copies to your agent, your primary care physician, and any hospital or care facility where you receive regular treatment. Keep the original somewhere secure but reachable. A locked fireproof safe at home is usually more practical than a bank safe deposit box your agent may not be able to open quickly.

If a Bank or Other Institution Refuses to Accept It

Institutions sometimes resist accepting a power of attorney, especially older documents or unfamiliar formats. Nebraska law gives them a short runway. Once presented with a properly notarized power of attorney, an institution must either accept it or request additional documentation such as a certification, translation, or attorney’s opinion within seven business days. After receiving whatever they asked for, they have five more business days to accept.¹⁶

An unreasonable refusal can be challenged in court. A judge can order acceptance and make the institution pay your attorney’s fees and costs, and in the case of a securities account the institution may also owe economic damages caused by the delay.¹⁷ Showing a reluctant institution the text of this statute often resolves the standoff.

How to Revoke or Change It Later

You can revoke a power of attorney at any time while you’re competent. For a financial power of attorney, the revocation isn’t effective against your agent or any third party who acts in good faith without knowing about it, so you need to deliver actual notice. Tell your agent in writing, and notify every institution or person who has a copy. If the document was recorded with a Register of Deeds, record the revocation there too.⁸¹⁵

Signing a new power of attorney does not automatically cancel an older one. If you want the old document gone, include language in the new one that expressly revokes all prior powers of attorney.⁸

A healthcare power of attorney can be revoked in any way you’re able to communicate your intent, written or verbal. Revocation becomes effective when you communicate it to your attending physician, your healthcare provider, or your agent, and your doctor must note the revocation in your medical records.¹⁸

Divorce changes things automatically if your agent is your spouse. Filing an action for dissolution or annulment terminates a spouse-agent’s authority under a financial power of attorney unless the document says otherwise.⁸ For a healthcare power of attorney, a divorce decree may address the question directly; if the decree is silent, your ex-spouse’s authority is automatically revoked when the decree is entered.¹⁸

A power of attorney never survives your death. The moment you die, your agent’s authority ends, and your estate passes to the executor or personal representative under your will or Nebraska’s intestacy rules.

1
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4004 – Power of Attorney Is Durable
2
Nebraska Judicial Branch. Power of Attorney
3
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4041 – Statutory Form Power of Attorney
4
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Power of Attorney for Health Care Form
5
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4009 – When Power of Attorney Effective
6
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4006 – Validity of Power of Attorney
7
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Uniform Power of Attorney Act Sections 30-4001 to 30-4045
8
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4010 – Termination of Power of Attorney or Agents Authority
9
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4024 – Authority That Requires Specific Grant
10
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4040 – Gifts
11
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4012 – Reimbursement and Compensation of Agent
12
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4005 – Execution of Power of Attorney
13
Nebraska Secretary of State. Fees for Notary Services
14
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-3404 – Power of Attorney Contents
15
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 76-246 – Conveyances, Power of Attorney, How Revoked
16
Nebraska Legislature. Legislative Bill 146 – Nebraska Uniform Power of Attorney Act Amendments
17
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-4020 – Liability for Refusal to Accept Acknowledged Power of Attorney
18
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 30-3420 – Power of Attorney, Health Care Decision, Revocation