Texas Durable Power of Attorney Template

What a Texas durable power of attorney is for

A durable power of attorney lets you name someone you trust to handle your money and property, and keeps working if you later become unable to manage your own affairs. Without one, your family may have to go to court for a guardianship to pay your bills, manage your accounts, sell property or deal with benefits. Texas provides a statutory form in section 752.051 of the Estates Code, and banks, title companies and government agencies in Texas recognize it.

This template reproduces that statutory form in full: the notice, the appointment of your agent and co-agents, the fourteen categories of powers you initial (or one line for all of them), the compensation, co-agent and gift instructions, special instructions, the optional grant of specific authority from section 752.052 for trusts, gifts, survivorship, beneficiary designations and delegation, the choice between immediate and springing effect, third party reliance, successor agents, your signature and the notary's acknowledgment. The statutory information for agents follows, with a signing and recording checklist, an agent's record of actions and a revocation form.

When to use it

Use it if you live in Texas and want to plan for a time when you cannot manage your finances because of illness, injury, dementia or travel: adults of any age planning ahead, older adults, people before surgery, military members before deployment, and owners of property or accounts that would need management. Choose an immediate power if you want help now or want to avoid delays, or a springing power if you want it to start only on incapacity.

It does not cover health care decisions; use a Medical Power of Attorney for those. For complex estates, business succession, Medicaid planning, or if you want your agent to have broad gifting powers, get legal advice before granting specific authority.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. Statutory form

   • Notice
   • Principal and agent
   • Co-agents
   • Powers (A) to (O) by initials
   • Compensation
   • Co-agent instructions
   • Gifts
   • Special instructions

2. Specific authority and effectiveness

   • Trusts
   • Gifts
   • Survivorship
   • Beneficiary designations
   • Delegation
   • Immediate or springing
   • Physician certification
   • Third party reliance
   • Successor agents

3. Execution

   • Principal's signature
   • Notary acknowledgment

4. Information for agent

   • Fiduciary duties
   • Records and accounting
   • Termination events
   • Liability

5. Checklist, log and revocation

   • Signing steps
   • Home equity rule
   • Recording for real property
   • Acceptance by third parties
   • Medical POA note
   • Agent's record of actions
   • Revocation

Preview pages

How to complete the form

1. Name yourself and your agent. Enter full names and addresses; you may appoint co-agents.
2. Initial the powers. Initial each power you want to grant, or line (O) for all of them.
3. Choose the instructions. Initial one compensation option, a co-agent option if you have co-agents, and the gift option if wanted.
4. Add special instructions. Limit or extend powers in your own words, or write "None".
5. Decide on specific authority. Initial only the specific acts you want your agent to be able to do.
6. Choose when it takes effect. Cross out Alternative (A) or (B).
7. Name successor agents. List one or more, in order.
8. Sign before a notary. Sign in front of a notary, who completes the acknowledgment.
9. Distribute and record. Give the agent the original, keep copies, and record it if it will be used for real property.

Example: a completed form excerpt

A fictional Austin widow, age 78, prepares a power of attorney before a planned surgery:

Agent: her son, Daniel Ortiz of Round Rock, Texas. Successor: her daughter, Elena Ortiz of San Antonio, Texas. Powers: line (O), all powers (A) to (N). Compensation: reimbursement of expenses only, no compensation. Specific authority: none initialed, so Daniel cannot change her trust, beneficiary designations or survivorship rights. Effective: Alternative (B) crossed out, so it takes effect immediately.

She signs before a notary at her bank, gives Daniel the original, and keeps a copy with her will. Daniel keeps the agent's record of every payment he makes.

Texas rules to know

These are the Texas rules this form is built around.

• Statutory form (Estates Code section 752.051). The form reproduced here, including the notice, powers, instructions, effectiveness, successors and information for agent.
• Specific authority (section 752.052 and 751.031). Trusts, gifts, survivorship, beneficiary designations and delegation must be granted expressly.
• Requirements (section 751.0021). Signed by an adult principal and acknowledged before an authorized officer, with durability language.
• Gifts (section 751.032). Gift authority is limited to the federal gift tax annual exclusion unless the document says otherwise.
• Recording (section 751.151). Record with the county clerk within 30 days for real property instruments.
• Acceptance (sections 751.201 to 751.206). Third parties must accept or request a certification, opinion or translation within set times.
• Agent's duties. Fiduciary duties, records and accounting, with liability and possible prosecution for misapplication.

Mistakes with Texas powers of attorney

The common problems are forgetting the notary, initialing (O) and also individual powers in a confusing way, not crossing out either alternative when a springing power was intended, naming no successor agent, granting gift and trust authority without understanding it, using a financial power for medical decisions, not recording before a real estate closing, and agents who mix their own money with the principal's or keep no records. Following the checklist and the agent's log avoids each of them.