Revocation of Powers of Attorney

I already signed a Power of Attorney. Can I change my mind?

When you sign a legal document granting authority to act in accordance with your Power of Attorney to someone for a general purpose or for a specific time or purpose, you may change your mind.  You can revoke or undo that decision but certain conditions and rules apply.

• You must not be incapacitated when you change your mind and sign the document revoking or undoing your original assignment of the Powers of Attorney to another person. In other words, you must be legally able to make decisions for yourself, including the decision to revoke the power of attorney.
• You must either sign a document revoking the previously signed Power of Attorney OR you must intentionally destroy the original document. It is suggested but not required to have the document revoking the Power of Attorney notarized. 

How do you Revoke a Power of Attorney once granted?

The best way to be sure your wishes are carried out is to sign a document revoking the Power of Attorney AND to send written notice to the person to whom you granted the Power of Attorney.

You should also send or deliver a copy of the document revoking the Power of Attorney to any institutions or organizations that previously honored your Power of Attorney. If you do not do this, the organization can continue to honor the prior Power of Attorney in good faith because they had no reason to know that you revoked it.

The attached PDF has instructions, a checklist and a form you can use.

I filed the Power of Attorney with the County Clerk. Do I have to file the Revocation?

YES! If you filed the document or a copy of the document assigning Powers of Attorney to another person or entity with a County or Court Clerk, you must also file the document REVOKING the Powers with that same County or Court Clerk's Office.