Washington DC Power of Attorney Laws: Durable, Medical, and Financial POA (2026)

The District of Columbia adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA) through D.C. Law 24-236, effective February 23, 2023, codified at D.C. Code 21-2601.01 et seq. The Act replaced earlier financial POA statutes and brought DC into alignment with the modern uniform framework used by most states. One of its most significant changes: a DC power of attorney is now durable by default, meaning it survives the principal's incapacity unless the document expressly says otherwise. Health-care decision-making authority sits outside that Act entirely, governed by D.C. Code 21-2201 et seq.

What a Power of Attorney Does in the District of Columbia

A power of attorney is a written record that grants authority to an agent to act in the place of the principal, whether or not the term "power of attorney" is used (D.C. Code 21-2601.02). The agent, also called an attorney-in-fact, can manage financial accounts, conduct real estate transactions, handle tax matters, operate a business, and carry out dozens of other tasks, but only to the extent the document grants that authority.

DC law draws a clear line between two separate legal frameworks. The 2023 UPOAA (D.C. Code 21-2601.01 et seq.) governs financial and property powers of attorney. The Health-Care Decisions Act (D.C. Code 21-2201 et seq.) governs medical decision-making authority. These are two different bodies of law rather than a single combined authority: D.C. Code 21-2601.03(2) excludes "[a] power to make health-care decisions" from the 2023 Act's coverage. That is an allocation of governing law, not a ban on putting both grants in one document, and no DC provision states such a ban. What it does mean is that each grant has to satisfy its own chapter's formalities, and those formalities differ: notarization under D.C. Code 21-2601.05 for the financial power, two adult witnesses under D.C. Code 21-2205 for the health-care power. Because a single instrument would have to clear both sets of requirements and be read against two statutes, executing separate documents is the standard and safest practice in DC.

The scope of any POA is limited to what the principal expressly grants. Agents in DC hold fiduciary duties under D.C. Code 21-2601.14, but those duties come in two tiers: some cannot be removed by the document, and others apply only if the document does not say otherwise. See Agent Duties below before assuming a particular duty is in place.

Durable Power of Attorney in DC

Under D.C. Code 21-2601.04, a power of attorney created under the 2023 Act is durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal. This reverses the older default rule and tracks the UPOAA approach: if the document says nothing about incapacity, the POA survives it.

This default durability is a meaningful planning advantage. If a principal becomes ill or cognitively impaired, the agent's authority continues uninterrupted, avoiding the need for court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship in many situations.

A principal who wants a non-durable POA, one that terminates automatically on incapacity, must include express language to that effect. Conversely, a principal may also create a springing POA that only becomes effective upon incapacity or another future event specified in the document (D.C. Code 21-2601.09). By default, a POA is effective immediately upon execution.

How to Create a Valid DC Power of Attorney

D.C. Code 21-2601.05 sets the execution requirements for a financial power of attorney in the District of Columbia:

1. In writing signed by the principal
2. Acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments

A signature so acknowledged is presumed genuine. No witnesses are required for a financial POA under the 2023 Act. This is simpler than many states, but notarization is mandatory, not optional. A POA that is signed but not notarized is not valid.

If the principal is physically unable to sign, another person may sign in the principal's conscious presence and at the principal's express direction.

DC also provides an optional statutory form at D.C. Code 21-2603.01. The statutory form lists categories of authority the principal can grant by initialing each one, and it includes spaces for hot powers, successor agents, and a nomination of conservator or guardian. Using the form is not required, but it ensures all formal requirements are met. Categories like hot powers and a successor agent can also be filled in with a DC generator before you take the result to a notary.

Recording: A POA that will be used for real estate transactions should be recorded with the DC Office of the Recorder of Deeds after notarization so that title companies and counterparties can rely on it.

What a DC Agent Can and Cannot Do

General Financial Authority

When a principal grants general authority, the agent may act in matters involving real property, personal property, stocks and bonds, bank and financial accounts, business operations, insurance, retirement plans, taxes, claims and litigation, and personal and family maintenance (D.C. Code 21-2602.01 et seq.). The statutory form in Subchapter III lists each category individually so principals can choose exactly which powers to grant.

Hot Powers Requiring Express Authorization

Under D.C. Code 21-2602.01, the following actions require an explicit written grant in the document. A general grant of financial authority does not carry them:

• Creating, amending, revoking, or terminating an inter vivos trust
• Making gifts
• Creating or changing rights of survivorship
• Creating or changing a beneficiary designation
• Delegating granted authority to another person
• Waiving the principal's right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity
• Exercising delegable fiduciary powers
• Disclaiming or refusing an interest in property or a power of appointment

These restrictions exist because each hot power has significant potential to reduce the principal's estate or alter how property passes at death. Agents who are not ancestors, spouses, or descendants of the principal cannot use these powers to benefit themselves unless the document expressly permits it.

Agent Duties

D.C. Code 21-2601.14 splits an agent's duties into two tiers, and the difference matters to anyone reviewing a form or relying on an agent.

Duties the document cannot remove. Subsection (a) applies "[n]otwithstanding provisions in the power of attorney." An agent who has accepted appointment must act in accordance with the principal's reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by the agent and otherwise in the principal's best interest, act in good faith, and act only within the scope of authority granted in the power of attorney.

Default duties the document may modify or eliminate. Subsection (b) opens with "[e]xcept as otherwise provided in the power of attorney," so the drafting document can limit or waive each of these: acting loyally for the principal's benefit, acting so as to avoid a conflict of interest that impairs impartial judgment, acting with the care, competence, and diligence ordinarily exercised by agents in similar circumstances, keeping a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions, cooperating with a person who has authority to make health-care decisions for the principal, and attempting to preserve the principal's estate plan where doing so is consistent with the principal's best interest.

The practical consequence: record-keeping and conflict-avoidance are duties a principal should confirm are actually present in the instrument, because a DC power of attorney can lawfully waive them. Before you sign, ask a DC estate planning lawyer in a free case evaluation whether the draft keeps the agent duties you want (attorney advertising).

Accounting on request. Under D.C. Code 21-2601.14(h), an agent is not required to disclose receipts, disbursements, or transactions unless ordered by a court or requested by the principal or another person authorized to make the request. When a proper request is made, the agent must comply within 30 days or provide a writing substantiating why additional time is needed, and then comply within an additional 30 days. This is the provision a family member uses in practice to make an agent account for what has been done.

What an Agent Cannot Do

A financial agent cannot make health-care decisions, cannot act after the principal's death, cannot create or change the principal's will, and cannot act in ways that breach the fiduciary duties imposed by D.C. Code 21-2601.14. Authority under a DC financial POA ends at death; estate administration passes to the personal representative.

Third-Party Acceptance and Refusal

Under D.C. Code 21-2601.19, a person who accepts an acknowledged POA in good faith without actual knowledge of forgery or invalidity may rely on it and is protected from liability. Under D.C. Code 21-2601.20, third parties such as banks must act on a valid acknowledged POA within seven business days of presentation or formally request additional documentation. A person who wrongfully refuses a valid POA may be ordered by a court to accept it and may be liable for the principal's reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Health-Care Power of Attorney in DC

Health-care decision-making authority in the District of Columbia is governed by an entirely separate statute: the DC Health-Care Decisions Act, D.C. Code 21-2201 et seq. This is not part of the 2023 UPOAA. It is an independent legal framework requiring its own document.

A durable power of attorney for health care under D.C. Code 21-2202 is a legally enforceable document that creates authority for an attorney-in-fact to make health-care decisions on behalf of the principal, but only when the principal is incapacitated and unable to make those decisions independently.

Execution Requirements

Under D.C. Code 21-2205, a health-care power of attorney must be:

1. Dated
2. Signed by the principal
3. Witnessed by two adult witnesses who affirm the principal was of sound mind and free from duress

The two witnesses may not include the principal, the principal's health-care provider, or any employee of that provider. At least one witness must not be related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption and must not be entitled to any part of the principal's estate.

No notarization is required for a DC health-care POA. The two-witness requirement distinguishes it from the financial POA, which requires a notary but no witnesses.

The document must include durability language stating either that it is not affected by the principal's subsequent incapacity or that it becomes effective upon incapacity (D.C. Code 21-2205).

What the Health-Care Agent Can Do

The health-care attorney-in-fact may make decisions about medical treatment, surgery, hospitalization, life-sustaining treatment, and other health-care matters, subject to any limits the principal writes into the document. The agent's authority is limited to periods when the principal lacks capacity to make health-care decisions.

For the full 50-state overview, see our national Power of Attorney guide.

Revoking or Ending a DC Power of Attorney

Termination of a Financial POA

Under D.C. Code 21-2601.10, a financial power of attorney terminates when:

• The principal dies
• The principal revokes the POA
• The document reaches its stated end date or a terminating condition occurs
• The stated purpose is accomplished
• The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns and no successor agent is named
• For a non-durable POA, the principal becomes incapacitated

A divorce, annulment, or legal separation proceeding between the agent and principal automatically terminates the agent's authority under D.C. Code 21-2601.10(b) unless the document expressly says otherwise.

How to Revoke

DC law does not require a specific form of revocation. A written, signed revocation document is strongly recommended. To be effective against third parties who rely in good faith on the old POA, the revocation must be communicated to the agent and to any relevant third parties such as banks. A new POA does not automatically revoke a prior one unless it explicitly says so; an express revocation clause in the new document avoids confusion.

For a health-care POA, D.C. Code 21-2208 prescribes both when revocation is available and how it is made. Subsection (a) applies "[a]t any time that the principal has the capacity to create a durable power of attorney for health care," and gives the principal two routes: revoke the attorney-in-fact's appointment by notifying the attorney-in-fact orally or in writing, or revoke the authority to make health-care decisions by notifying the health-care provider orally or in writing. A provider who is notified must document the revocation in the principal's patient-care records and make a reasonable effort to notify the attorney-in-fact (D.C. Code 21-2208(b)).

Capacity is therefore a condition on revoking, not an irrelevance. D.C. Code 21-2208(c) creates a rebuttable presumption, affecting the burden of proof, that a principal has the capacity to revoke a health-care POA. That presumption allocates who must prove what if the revocation is later challenged; it does not mean a principal who has lost capacity can still revoke.

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This article provides general legal information about District of Columbia power of attorney laws and is not legal advice. DC law is complex and individual circumstances vary. Consult a licensed DC attorney before creating or relying on a power of attorney document.

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of May 31, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a DC power of attorney automatically durable?

Yes, under D.C. Code 21-2601.04, a financial POA created under the 2023 Uniform Power of Attorney Act is durable by default. It survives the principal's incapacity unless the document expressly states otherwise. This is the opposite of the old rule.

Does a DC power of attorney need to be notarized?

A financial POA under D.C. Code 21-2601.05 must be acknowledged before a notary public or other authorized officer to be valid. No witnesses are required. A health-care POA under D.C. Code 21-2205 is the opposite: it requires two adult witnesses but no notary.

Can the same document serve as both a financial POA and a health-care POA in DC?

No DC statute forbids it, but separate documents are the standard practice and the safer choice. The 2023 UPOAA (D.C. Code 21-2601.01 et seq.) governs financial powers of attorney and expressly excludes health-care decisions from its scope (D.C. Code 21-2601.03(2)), while the Health-Care Decisions Act (D.C. Code 21-2201 et seq.) governs health-care authority. Each grant must independently meet its own chapter's formalities: notarization for the financial POA, two adult witnesses for the health-care POA. Because those requirements differ, a combined document has to clear both, which is why most DC drafters use two instruments.

What are hot powers in a DC power of attorney?

Hot powers are high-stakes authorities listed in D.C. Code 21-2602.01 that a general financial POA does not automatically include. They must be expressly granted in the document. Examples include making gifts, creating or amending trusts, changing beneficiary designations, and creating or changing rights of survivorship.

How many witnesses are required for a DC health-care power of attorney?

Two adult witnesses are required under D.C. Code 21-2205. They must affirm the principal was of sound mind and free from duress. The principal's health-care provider and that provider's employees are disqualified. At least one witness must not be related to the principal or entitled to any share of the principal's estate.

Can a bank in DC refuse to honor a power of attorney?

A bank may refuse in limited circumstances listed in D.C. Code 21-2601.20, such as a good-faith doubt about validity or a known termination of authority. However, a bank that wrongfully refuses a valid acknowledged POA may be liable for the principal's attorney fees and costs. Third parties generally have seven business days to act on a presented POA.

Does a DC power of attorney end at the principal's death?

Yes. Under D.C. Code 21-2601.10, a power of attorney terminates immediately when the principal dies. The agent has no authority to manage estate assets after death. Those responsibilities pass to the personal representative of the estate.