Arizona Durable Power of Attorney
An Arizona durable power of attorney must be signed before one witness and notarized under A.R.S. 14-5501, and must expressly state it survives incapacity.
Introduction
A durable power of attorney is a written authorization that puts a person you trust, called your agent or attorney-in-fact, in charge of your money, property, and business affairs when you want help or cannot act for yourself. What makes it durable is straightforward: the authority stays alive after you lose the mental capacity to manage your own affairs, which is precisely the situation most people are planning for. An ordinary, nondurable authorization collapses at that moment instead. Arizona sets the ground rules in Title 14, Chapter 5, Article 5 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (Sections 14-5501 through 14-5507). Section 14-5501 makes a power of attorney valid only after you sign or mark it (or have someone sign your name for you, in your presence and at your request), have one qualifying witness observe it, and acknowledge it before a notary public who seals a certificate. Arizona is unusual here: it demands a notary AND a witness together, where a majority of states are satisfied with just one. Durability is never assumed in Arizona. Unless Section 14-5501 language spells out that the agent keeps authority through your disability or incapacity, the document is treated as ordinary and lapses when your capacity does. Arizona also never adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, so there is no state-issued fill-in form to complete; Article 5 supplies only the notary and witness certificate wording, leaving the body of the document to you. This guide addresses the financial and general durable power of attorney; a health-care power of attorney is governed separately under Arizona law. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
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Key Things to Know
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A durable power of attorney hands decision-making power to someone you name. That person, your agent or attorney-in-fact, manages your money, property, and business dealings on your behalf. The label durable means the authorization does not collapse if you later lose capacity, which is the main reason people put one in place.
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Arizona wants two people at your signing, not one. Section 14-5501 makes the document valid only once you sign or mark it, one qualifying witness observes it, and a notary public acknowledges it under an official-seal certificate. Skipping either the witness or the notary leaves the power of attorney defective, a stricter bar than most states set.
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Durability has to be written in. Arizona presumes a power of attorney is ordinary, so Section 14-5501 requires wording that shows you mean the agent's authority to continue through your disability or incapacity. Leave that wording out and the authority dies the moment you can no longer make decisions.
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Not everyone qualifies as your witness. Section 14-5501 bars the agent, the agent's spouse, the agent's children, and the notary from serving as the single witness, so the witness has to be a separate, disinterested person standing alongside the notary.
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There is no official Arizona form to fill in. Because the state passed on the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, no comprehensive statutory fill-in form exists; Article 5 dictates only the notary acknowledgment and witness certificate language, so the substance of the document is drafted by you.
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Grant each power explicitly. Article 5 carries no codified catalog of sensitive acts, sometimes called hot powers, that need special wording. With no statutory list to backstop you, whatever authority your agent holds comes strictly from what the four corners of the document say, so name every power in plain terms.
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Real-estate use can trigger a recording step. Arizona does not force every property-related power of attorney onto the public record, but Section 14-5505 makes an agent's affidavit of non-revocation recordable whenever exercising the power calls for a recordable instrument. That filing goes to the county recorder in the county where the land sits.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Durable Power of Attorney in Arizona, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Durable Power of Attorney guide walks through them.
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Arizona Requirements for Durable Power of Attorney
Sign Before a Notary and One Witness
Under A.R.S. 14-5501, the power of attorney must be signed or marked by you, witnessed by one qualifying witness, and acknowledged before a notary public who provides a certificate under official seal. Arizona requires both a notary and a witness, not one or the other.
Your Witness Cannot Be the Agent or Notary
Under A.R.S. 14-5501, the single witness cannot be the agent, the agent's spouse, the agent's children, or the notary public. You must choose a separate, qualifying witness in addition to the notary.
Durability Language Is Required
Arizona does not make a power of attorney durable by default. Under A.R.S. 14-5501 the document must contain express language showing you intend the agent's authority to survive your disability or incapacity; without it, the power of attorney ends when you lose capacity.
Springing Effective Date (Optional)
If you want the power of attorney to take effect only on a future event such as your disability or incapacity, A.R.S. 14-5501 permits a springing power of attorney. Arizona does not prescribe a specific method for determining that the triggering incapacity has occurred, so it is left to the document's own terms.
No Statutory Fill-In Form
Arizona does not adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act and does not publish a comprehensive fill-in statutory financial power of attorney form. Article 5 prescribes only the notary acknowledgment and witness certificate language, so the wording of the document is up to you.
Recording for Real-Property Use
Arizona's Article 5 does not require every real-property power of attorney to be recorded. Under A.R.S. 14-5505, an agent's affidavit of non-revocation is recordable when exercising the power requires a recordable instrument. Recording is done with the county recorder where the property is located.
Spell Out Every Power You Grant
Arizona's Article 5 does not contain a codified list of powers, sometimes called hot powers, that require special language, because Arizona did not adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. The scope of your agent's authority is governed by the four corners of the document, so spell out clearly every power you intend to grant.
Revocation by Written Notice
Arizona addresses revocation and termination in A.R.S. 14-5504. In practice you revoke by signing a written revocation and giving actual notice to the agent and to third parties who relied on the power of attorney. If it was recorded, record the revocation too. The statute protects those who act in good faith without actual knowledge of a revocation.
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