Michigan's Uniform Power of Attorney Act Is Now Law, Forcing Banks to Honor Valid POAs or Pay

For years, one of the most frustrating problems in estate planning was simple: you sign a power of attorney, then a bank refuses to honor it. Michigan has now rewritten its law to attack that problem directly. A new statute that took effect on July 1, 2024 sets clear duties for agents and, for the first time, puts real teeth behind the rule that a valid power of attorney must be accepted.

The measure is the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, enacted as Public Act 187 of 2023 from House Bill 4644. Governor Gretchen Whitmer approved it on November 7, 2023, and it is now codified at MCL 556.201 and following.

Information last verified on June 20, 2026.

What the New Michigan Law Does

The Uniform Power of Attorney Act is a stand-alone statute, not a few sections buried inside the probate code. According to the enrolled act, it adopts the uniform power of attorney act and repeals Michigan's prior durable power of attorney provisions, formerly found at MCL 700.5501 to 700.5505 of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code.

That structural move matters. Michigan previously governed financial powers of attorney with a short set of provisions and a large amount of common law filling the gaps. The new chapter replaces that patchwork with detailed, predictable rules on how a power of attorney is created, what an agent may and may not do, and how third parties must respond.

The overall design follows the national Uniform Power of Attorney Act model, which is meant to make these documents portable and reliable across state lines. You can see how the durable power of attorney fits into broader estate and incapacity planning on our overview of power of attorney laws across the United States.

Banks Must Accept a Valid POA, or Face a Court Order

The headline change for ordinary families is the mandatory acceptance rule. Under MCL 556.220, a person presented with an acknowledged power of attorney must, within 7 business days, either accept it or request an agent's certification, an English translation, or an opinion of counsel. If the person requests that documentation, the statute requires acceptance within 5 business days after receiving it.

The law still lists specific grounds on which a person may decline. Those include situations where the person would not otherwise be required to do business with the principal, where acceptance would violate federal law, where the person has actual knowledge that the agent's authority has terminated, where a timely request for supporting documentation was refused, where the person believes in good faith that the power is not valid or is being used to abuse the principal, and where a financial institution has an active freeze under Michigan's financial-exploitation prevention provisions.

What is new is the consequence for refusing without a valid reason. As MCL 556.220 puts it, a person that refuses in violation of the section to accept an acknowledged power of attorney is subject to a court order mandating acceptance and to liability for the reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in the action that confirms the power or mandates acceptance. In plain terms, a bank that stonewalls a legitimate agent can now be told by a judge to honor the document and to pay the family's legal bills.

Clear Duties for the Agent

The Act also tightens the rules on the agent, the person given authority. MCL 556.214 separates an agent's obligations into mandatory duties that cannot be waived and default duties that the principal can adjust in the document.

The mandatory duties require an agent who has accepted appointment to act in accordance with the principal's reasonable expectations to the extent actually known, and otherwise in the principal's best interest, to act in good faith, to act only within the scope of authority granted, and to keep reasonable records of receipts, disbursements, and transactions.

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, MCL 556.214 also imposes default duties: to act loyally for the principal's benefit, to avoid conflicts of interest that would impair the agent's impartial judgment, to act with the care, competence, and diligence of a prudent person, to cooperate with a person who has health-care authority for the principal, and to try to preserve the principal's estate plan when doing so is consistent with the principal's best interest. These standards give families and courts a concrete yardstick when an agent is accused of self-dealing or financial exploitation.

Durability by Default and a Statutory Form

Two more changes make the documents easier to use. First, the new law presumes durability. Under the Act, a power of attorney that is properly executed survives the principal's later incapacity unless the document expressly states otherwise, which reverses the old expectation that a document had to affirmatively declare itself durable.

Second, the Act provides an optional statutory form at MCL 556.401, along with a model agent's certification and a certification of validity. A document that is acknowledged before a notary public also carries a presumption of genuineness, which is part of why notarized powers are now strongly favored over witness-only versions.

The combined effect is a document that is more standardized, more likely to be honored, and harder to forge. For readers comparing how their own state handles these issues, our state guides cover the same building blocks, including durability, agent authority, and acceptance rules.

Part of a National Pattern

Michigan is not acting in isolation. A large majority of states have now enacted some version of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act or closely related reforms, which is precisely why uniformity is the point. The goal is a power of attorney signed in one state that works the same way in the next.

That makes neighboring states a useful comparison. Ohio operates under its own statutory power of attorney framework with similar concepts of agent duties and third-party reliance, and you can see the specifics in our guide to Ohio power of attorney laws. Utah, which adopted the uniform act earlier, shows how the same model statute reads once it has been in force for years, as detailed in our guide to Utah power of attorney laws.

Reading those side by side helps explain why Michigan moved. As more states converge on the uniform text, the few holdouts create friction for anyone with property, accounts, or family in more than one state.

Analysis: Why This Matters

The following analysis reflects the views of the Recording Law Editorial Team.

The most consequential part of this law is the acceptance rule, not the agent duties. Defined fiduciary duties are valuable, but a power of attorney that institutions can ignore is close to worthless when it is needed most, often in the middle of a medical crisis. By pairing a firm deadline with a fee-shifting remedy, MCL 556.220 changes the incentives. A bank's legal department can no longer treat indefinite delay as the safe choice, because delay now carries the risk of a court order and a fee award.

The durability default is a quieter but meaningful fix. The old rule punished ordinary people for a drafting omission, voiding authority precisely when incapacity struck. Presuming durability aligns the law with what almost every principal actually intends and reduces the number of families forced into guardianship court simply because a form lacked a magic sentence.

There is a real trade-off worth naming. Making powers easier to honor also makes them a sharper tool for financial abuse, since a smoothly accepted document in the wrong hands moves money faster. The Legislature clearly anticipated this, which is why the same statute lists good-faith abuse concerns and active financial-exploitation freezes among the lawful grounds to refuse. How aggressively banks use those off-ramps, without sliding back into reflexive rejection, will determine whether the balance holds.

None of this is legal advice. Whether a particular document is valid, whether a refusal was lawful, and whether an agent breached a duty are fact-specific questions for a court. Anyone signing, relying on, or challenging a power of attorney should consult a licensed attorney in their state.