Power of Attorney in Texas

The Texas statutory form

Texas Statutory Durable Power of Attorney — Tex. Estates Code §752.051. Powers are granted by initialing each subject; gifting, trust and beneficiary powers must be initialed separately (§752.052). Durable unless struck.

The statutory form is the one banks and recorders in Texas 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 Texas

A durable power of attorney must be signed by the principal and acknowledged before a notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments (Tex. Estates Code §751.0021).

No witnesses are required when the principal signs personally.

The agent should sign the agent's certification in the statutory form; a third party that refuses a valid statutory form must give its reasons in writing within 10 business days (§751.206).

Online notarization in Texas

Texas has run online notarization since 2018 (Gov't Code §406.101 et seq.) and recognizes an acknowledgment taken before a notary of another state (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §121.001(a)(2)). Texas's Property Code also exempts electronically notarized instruments from the original-signature rule, so a power of attorney notarized online under Florida law can be e-recorded.

Rush Notary’s notaries are commissioned online notaries public in Florida and notarize for Texas signers over live video under Florida’s remote online notarization law. The certificate they complete is a Florida certificate; Texas honors it under the recognition rule above. Details for this state are on the Texas online notarization requirements page.

Using it for real estate

A power of attorney used to convey or encumber real property must be acknowledged and recorded in the county where the land lies (Tex. Estates Code §751.151); most counties accept e-recording through an approved vendor (Local Gov't Code Chapter 195).

Title companies also ask the agent to sign an affidavit at closing that the principal is alive and the power has not been revoked, and lenders review the document before closing.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

A Texas medical power of attorney (Health & Safety Code §166.154, statutory form §166.164) must be signed before two adult witnesses or acknowledged before a notary. The agent, the attending physician, facility employees and, for at least one witness, relatives and heirs 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 Texas power of attorney

Revoke by a signed writing delivered to the agent and to third parties (Tex. Estates Code §751.133); record the revocation in every county where the power was recorded. Divorce revokes a spouse-agent's authority automatically (§751.132).

Using a power of attorney for a birth or death certificate in Texas

Whether an agent can request a certified copy of a Texas birth, death or marriage record under a power of attorney, and what the application itself needs, is on the Texas vital records page. The power of attorney for vital records page covers how to draft one.