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

Missouri governs financial powers of attorney under the Durable Power of Attorney Law of Missouri, Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 404.700 to 404.737. Missouri did not adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. A power of attorney is not durable by default in Missouri: durability requires that the document be denominated a "Durable Power of Attorney" and contain express language stating that the agent's authority survives the principal's disability or incapacity. Execution requires the principal's signature, a date, and acknowledgment before a notary public in the same manner prescribed for real estate conveyances under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.705. Health care decision-making authority is an entirely separate matter governed by the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Act, Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 404.800 to 404.865.

What a Power of Attorney Does in Missouri

A power of attorney is a written instrument in which a principal grants an attorney in fact (also called an agent) the legal authority to act on the principal's behalf. Missouri's financial power of attorney statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 404.700 to 404.737, sets out the rules governing how these documents are created, what authority they convey, the duties of the attorney in fact, and how they end.

The scope of an agent's authority depends on what the document grants. A general power of attorney may authorize the agent to handle all of the principal's property, financial accounts, business affairs, and legal transactions. A limited power of attorney may restrict the agent to a single task, such as selling a specific piece of real estate.

An agent acting under a Missouri POA serves in a fiduciary capacity. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.714, the agent must act in the interest of the principal, avoid conflicts of interest, exercise the degree of care a prudent person would use, keep the principal's property separate from other assets, and maintain regular contact with the principal to obtain instructions.

A power of attorney ends automatically at the principal's death. Under § 404.714, upon the principal's death the agent must follow court instructions and deliver the principal's property and records to the personal representative of the estate. The agent has no authority to act after death, regardless of anything the document may state.

Durable Power of Attorney in Missouri

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.705, a power of attorney in Missouri is durable only if it meets two requirements: the document must be denominated a "Durable Power of Attorney," and it must contain express language stating that the attorney in fact's authority will not terminate if the principal becomes disabled or incapacitated. Without that language, the power of attorney is non-durable, and the agent's authority is suspended the moment the principal becomes incapacitated.

The statute provides two alternative sample durability clauses. The first: "THIS IS A DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY AND THE AUTHORITY OF MY ATTORNEY IN FACT SHALL NOT TERMINATE IF I BECOME DISABLED OR INCAPACITATED OR IN THE EVENT OF LATER UNCERTAINTY AS TO WHETHER I AM DEAD OR ALIVE." The second applies to springing POAs: "THIS IS A DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY AND THE AUTHORITY OF MY ATTORNEY IN FACT, WHEN EFFECTIVE, SHALL NOT TERMINATE OR BE VOID OR VOIDABLE IF I AM OR BECOME DISABLED OR INCAPACITATED." Language that substantially conforms to either formulation is acceptable.

This requirement places Missouri opposite to states that have adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, where durability is the default. In Missouri, a person who wants a durable POA must affirmatively say so. A POA that is silent on durability will lapse upon incapacity, precisely when families most need the document to work.

A non-durable POA suspends the agent's authority during any disability or incapacity, though § 404.714 allows continued authority in special circumstances such as when the principal is missing, captured, or held hostage.

How to Create a Valid Missouri Power of Attorney

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.705 sets out the execution requirements for a Missouri durable power of attorney. To be valid, the document must meet all three of the following requirements.

Signature. The principal must sign the power of attorney.

Date. The document must be dated.

Notarization. The principal's signature must be acknowledged in the manner prescribed by law for conveyances of real estate, meaning the principal must acknowledge the signature before a notary public. This requirement mirrors the formality used to execute deeds and other instruments affecting real property.

The statute does not require witness signatures for a financial power of attorney. Notarization alone satisfies the acknowledgment requirement. However, when the authority granted covers real property transactions that must be recorded, the document should be prepared in a form suitable for recording with the county recorder of deeds.

Under § 404.705, acts performed by an attorney in fact under a properly executed durable power of attorney bind the principal and the principal's successors in interest, notwithstanding any subsequent disability or incapacity of the principal. Recording the POA is generally not required for validity between the parties, but may be required for specific real estate transactions.

What a Missouri Agent Can and Cannot Do

General Authority

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.710, an attorney in fact with general authority has all the rights, power, and authority to act for the principal that the principal would have regarding the principal's person, property, and business interests. This broad grant allows the agent to execute contracts, handle banking transactions, manage investments, pay bills, deal with tax matters, employ professionals such as attorneys and accountants, and conduct other financial affairs on the principal's behalf.

Actions Requiring Express Authorization

Certain sensitive actions fall outside general authority and require explicit enumeration in the document. Under § 404.710, the principal must expressly authorize the agent to:

• Make or revoke gifts of the principal's property
• Create or change survivorship interests in property
• Designate or change beneficiaries on accounts or contracts
• Fund trusts not created by the principal
• Execute, amend, or revoke trust agreements

A general grant of broad authority does not imply any of these powers. Each one must be specifically identified in the POA document. This express-authority requirement protects the principal from an agent who might otherwise use wide powers to redirect assets for personal benefit.

Duties and Prohibited Actions

Under § 404.714, the agent must keep the principal's property and accounts clearly separate from other property under § 404.712, and must sign all instruments in a way that clearly identifies the agent's representative capacity. An agent may never execute a will or living will on the principal's behalf, regardless of how broad the authority granted appears to be.

Multiple Agents

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.707 allows a principal to appoint more than one attorney in fact, with authority exercised jointly, severally, or in any other manner specified in the document. Any person not disqualified from serving as a guardian or conservator under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 475.055 is eligible to serve as attorney in fact.

Health Care Power of Attorney in Missouri

Health care decision-making authority in Missouri is governed by an entirely separate statute: the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Act, Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 404.800 to 404.865. A financial POA cannot authorize medical decisions in Missouri, and a health care POA cannot be used to manage financial affairs. The two instruments serve distinct purposes and operate under distinct rules.

What a Health Care Agent Can Do

Under §§ 404.800 to 404.865, a principal may designate an attorney in fact to make health care decisions when the principal is incapacitated. The agent's authority covers decisions about medical treatment, choice of health care providers, and, with express authorization, decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment including artificially supplied nutrition and hydration under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.820. Withdrawal of artificially supplied nutrition and hydration requires specific authority granted in the document; it is not covered by a general health care grant.

Who Can Serve as Health Care Agent

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.815, an attending physician, an employee of the attending physician, or an owner, operator, or employee of a health care facility where the patient is a resident may not serve as health care attorney in fact. Exceptions apply when the patient and the proposed agent are related by blood or marriage within the second degree of kinship, or when both are members of the same religious community bound by vows.

Medical Records and Decision-Making

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.840, a copy of the health care POA must be placed in the patient's medical records when its existence becomes known to the health care provider, before the provider acts on the agent's decisions. The health care agent has the same rights as the patient to access health care information, review medical records, and authorize record disclosures, subject to any limitations in the document.

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.822, when making health care decisions the agent must seek and consider information about the patient's medical diagnosis, prognosis, and the benefits and burdens of proposed treatment.

Health Care Directives

Missouri also recognizes written health care directives (living wills) under Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 459. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 459.015, a competent person may execute a written declaration directing the withholding or withdrawal of death-prolonging procedures. The declaration must be in writing, signed, dated, and if not entirely handwritten, witnessed by two or more persons at least eighteen years of age. A health care directive under ch. 459 and a health care POA under §§ 404.800 to 404.865 are complementary instruments that can be used together.

Revoking or Ending a Missouri Power of Attorney

Revoking a Financial POA

A principal who retains legal capacity may revoke a financial power of attorney at any time. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.717, a financial POA terminates when any of the following occurs:

• The principal informs the attorney in fact orally or in writing that the authority is terminated
• Written notice of termination is filed with the recorder of deeds in relevant jurisdictions
• The date specified in the document arrives, if the POA includes a termination date
• The attorney in fact becomes unable to serve and no successor is named
• The principal and attorney in fact were married and the principal files for divorce or dissolution

Under § 404.717, an attorney in fact who acts in good faith without actual or constructive knowledge that a POA has been terminated is protected from liability. Conversely, willful misconduct or fraud after receiving actual notice of termination creates liability including damages and attorney's fees. For this reason, a principal who revokes a POA should promptly provide written notice to the agent and to every financial institution or third party that may hold or be presented with the old document.

Automatic Termination at Death

Every power of attorney ends at the principal's death. This applies to both durable and non-durable POAs. After the principal's death, the personal representative of the estate, not the attorney in fact, has authority over the principal's property.

Revoking a Health Care POA

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 404.850, a patient may revoke a health care power of attorney at any time and in any manner by which the patient is able to communicate intent to revoke. The revocation becomes effective once the patient communicates it to the agent or to the attending physician. Upon learning of a revocation, the attending physician must ensure the revocation is made part of the patient's medical records. Executing a new valid health care POA automatically revokes any prior health care POA, unless the new document specifies otherwise.

For a plain-English overview of how POAs work across all 50 states, see the Power of Attorney national guide.

More Missouri Laws

• Missouri Recording Laws
• Missouri Statute of Limitations
• Missouri Recording Laws
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• Missouri Data Privacy Laws
• Missouri Recording Laws
• Missouri Data Privacy Laws

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Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Missouri statutory law governing powers of attorney. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Missouri estate planning involves individual circumstances that a Missouri-licensed attorney can evaluate. Consult a qualified Missouri attorney before executing or relying on any power of attorney document.

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