Power of Attorney in Illinois

The Illinois statutory form

Illinois Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney for Property — 755 ILCS 45/3-3. Must include the statutory notice to the principal and the agent's notice; a separate statutory short form exists for health care (755 ILCS 45/4-10).

The statutory form is the one banks and recorders in Illinois see most often, and the one the statute requires third parties to accept when it is properly signed. A lawyer-drafted power of attorney is equally valid if it is executed the same way.

How to sign a power of attorney in Illinois

The statutory short form must be signed by the principal, by one witness, and acknowledged before a notary (755 ILCS 45/3-3).

One witness in addition to the notary.

Who may not witness

• The agent and the agent's relatives
• The notary
• The principal's attending physician or mental health provider and their relatives
• An owner or employee of a health-care facility where the principal is a patient

Online notarization in Illinois

Illinois recognizes an acknowledgment taken before a notary of another state (765 ILCS 30, Uniform Recognition of Acknowledgments Act) and has run its own remote notarization since 2022.

Rush Notary’s notaries are commissioned online notaries public in Florida and notarize for Illinois signers over live video under Florida’s remote online notarization law. The certificate they complete is a Florida certificate; Illinois honors it under the recognition rule above. Your witness can join the same session from anywhere in the United States. Details for this state are on the Illinois online notarization requirements page.

Using it for real estate

A power of attorney used for a conveyance must be acknowledged and recorded with the county recorder; Cook County and most collar counties accept e-recorded instruments.

Title companies also ask the agent to sign an affidavit at closing that the principal is alive and the power has not been revoked, and lenders review the document before closing. See the real estate power of attorney page.

Medical power of attorney in Illinois

The Illinois Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney for Health Care (755 ILCS 45/4-10) must be signed before one adult witness; no notary is required. The agent, the health-care provider and facility staff may not witness.

What a health-care agent can decide, and how the document differs from a living will, is on the medical power of attorney page.

Revoking a Illinois power of attorney

Revoke by a signed and dated writing or by any act showing intent to revoke, communicated to the agent (755 ILCS 45/2-5); record it where the original was recorded.