Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Alaska

Financial power of attorney in Alaska

Law and official form

Law

Powers of attorney, AS 13.26.600 to 13.26.695

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

No

Official form

General Power of Attorney (statutory form), with optional provisions in AS 13.26.650Published by Alaska Legislature

You do not have to use it.

Optional: a person 'may execute a statutory power of attorney set out in substantially the following form'. You mark YES next to each category of powers; unmarked categories are not granted. The form ends with a notary acknowledgment. If someone signs for you, that person cannot be an agent named in the power of attorney.

Law: AS 13.26.600-13.26.695 (amended by ch. 50, SLA 2016); AS 13.26.645, 13.26.650, 13.26.660

Signing rules

How to sign

A power of attorney signed in Alaska is valid if you sign it (or direct someone to sign for you because you are physically unable) and acknowledge the signature before a notary public or other official authorized to take acknowledgments. No witnesses are required.

Who signs

Signed by you. If you are physically unable to sign, you can direct another person, in your conscious presence, to sign your name; the statutory form says that person cannot be an agent named in it.

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None required

Law: AS 13.26.600

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney keeps working after you become incapacitated only if it says so, for example 'This power of attorney shall not be affected by the subsequent incapacity of the principal' or 'This power of attorney shall become effective upon the incapacity of the principal'. On the statutory form, if you choose 'effective on the date of my signature' (or choose nothing) and do not mark what happens on incapacity, the power of attorney is revoked by your later incapacity.

Law: AS 13.26.675(a); AS 13.26.660(3)

Durable unless it says otherwise?

No: it continues after incapacity only if it says so.

Starting later (springing)

The statutory form lets you choose that it becomes effective on the date of your incapacity. Incapacity is shown by an affidavit; if based on a mental or physical impairment, it is signed by two physicians or similarly qualified medical professionals who examined you (or by one, if only one is available and the affidavit says so).

Law: AS 13.26.645, 13.26.680(a)

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or end a living (inter vivos) trust
• Make a gift (subject to the limits in AS 13.26.665(q) and your special instructions)
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Revoke a transfer on death deed
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Delegate the agent's authority
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement plan survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you are allowed to delegate
• Access the content of your electronic communications

No power of attorney can

A public home care provider cannot accept appointment as agent for a person it serves unless the appointment is held jointly with someone who is not a public home care provider.

Law: AS 13.26.630

Law: AS 13.26.645 (Grant of Specific Authority section of the statutory form)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act according to your reasonable expectations they actually know, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith
• Act only within the authority you gave
• Unless the document says otherwise: act loyally for your benefit, avoid conflicts of interest, use ordinary care, competence and diligence, keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions, cooperate with your health care decision-maker, and try to preserve your estate plan
• Show records within 30 days when asked by you, your guardian or conservator, a government agency protecting you, or after your death your personal representative

Asking a court to review an agent

You, the agent, your lawyer, your guardian or conservator, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent or descendant, a presumptive heir, a beneficiary, the Department of Health, the Department of Administration, the long term care ombudsman, a caregiver or other interested person, and a person asked to accept the power of attorney can ask the court to interpret it or review the agent's conduct. If you ask, the court must dismiss the petition unless it finds you lack capacity to revoke the agent's authority.

Law: AS 13.26.635

Law: AS 13.26.610

When it ends and how to revoke it

It ends when

• You die
• You become incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not durable
• You revoke it
• The document says it ends (for example, the term of years you wrote on the statutory form)
• Its purpose is accomplished
• The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, resigns or is revoked, and no other agent is named
• You divorce or annul your marriage to your agent, unless the power of attorney, a court order or a marital agreement says otherwise

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Alaska (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke the power of attorney at any time. The statutory form explains that, unless it says otherwise, you can revoke a specific power by completing a special power of attorney that includes that power, and revoke all powers by completing a later power of attorney.

Telling others

Tell the agent and anyone who has the power of attorney. An agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of your death or incapacity is protected, and an agent's affidavit that they did not know of the revocation or termination is conclusive proof unless there is fraud.

Law: AS 13.26.620(a), 13.26.660(4); AS 13.12.804(a)(1)(C) and 13.06.050(21) ('governing instrument' includes a power of attorney); AS 13.26.620(a)(3), 13.26.625, 13.26.645 (Notice of Revocation in the statutory form)

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A person asked to accept a notarized (acknowledged) power of attorney must accept it, or ask for an agent's certification, a translation or a lawyer's opinion, within 5 business days, and then accept within 3 business days after getting it. They cannot demand a different form. They may refuse only for listed reasons, such as a good faith belief the power is invalid or a report of suspected abuse to the Department of Health. A wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and attorney fees and costs.

Law: AS 13.26.615

Health care directive in Alaska

The document and its form

Document

Advance health care directive (durable power of attorney for health care and/or individual instructions)

Official form

Advance Health Care Directive (optional sample form)Published by Alaska LegislatureVersion: Statutory sample form in AS 13.52.300; it may be modified or another complying form used

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Individual instructions (Part 2 of the advance health care directive)

Part of the directive.

You can give instructions about your own health care, including end-of-life treatment, orally or in writing, and limit them to take effect only if a specified condition arises. They can be part of the same advance health care directive that names your agent.

Law: AS 13.52.300; AS 13.52.010(a)

Signing rules

How to sign

The durable power of attorney for health care must be signed in front of two qualified witnesses who know you, or acknowledged before a notary public in Alaska. Individual instructions can be oral or written; a written instruction that is valid by itself still counts even if the agent part of the same paper was not properly witnessed.

Who signs

Written, dated and signed by you (an adult).

Notary

A notary or witnesses (your choice)

Witnesses

2 (instead of a notary)

Who cannot witness

Witnesses must be personally known to you and must see you sign or acknowledge your signature. A witness cannot be your agent, a health care provider employed at the institution or facility where you are receiving care, or an employee of your health care provider or of that institution or facility. At least one witness must not be related to you by blood, marriage or adoption and must not be entitled to part of your estate under your will or by law. If you use a notary instead, the acknowledgment must be taken at a place in Alaska.

Nursing facilities and special settings

Health care providers employed where you are receiving care, and employees of your provider or that institution or facility, cannot witness. Unless related to you, an owner, operator or employee of the health care institution where you receive care cannot be your agent.

Law: AS 13.52.010(a)-(e), (l)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, an owner, operator or employee of the health care institution where you are receiving care cannot be your agent.

Law: AS 13.52.010(c)

When the agent starts

Unless your directive says otherwise, the agent's authority starts when it is determined that you lack capacity and stops when you recover it. The determination is made by your primary physician, except that for mental illness a court decides (or, in an emergency, the primary physician or another health care provider).

Law: AS 13.52.010(f)-(g)

Decisions an agent cannot make

The agent must follow your instructions and known wishes, otherwise your best interest considering your personal values. Without a clear written expression of your intent, an agent cannot consent to abortion, sterilization, psychosurgery or organ removal unless needed to save your life or prevent serious harm to your health. An agent can consent to admission to a mental health facility only if your written directive expressly allows it, and for no more than 17 days. An agent's decision takes precedence over a guardian's unless a court orders otherwise.

Law: AS 13.52.050; AS 13.52.120(f); AS 13.52.040(b)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke the naming of an agent only by a signed writing or by personally telling your supervising health care provider.

Law: AS 13.52.020(a)

Revoking your instructions

You can revoke all or part of the rest of the directive at any time and in any manner that shows you intend to revoke. For mental health treatment, you can revoke when you have capacity and are competent, and it takes effect when you tell a physician or other provider.

Law: AS 13.52.020(b)-(c)

Telling others

A health care provider, agent, guardian or surrogate who learns of a revocation must promptly tell the supervising health care provider and any institution where you are receiving care.

Law: AS 13.52.020(d)

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Alaska (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

A later advance health care directive revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.

Law: AS 13.52.020(f)

Law: AS 13.52.020

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

A surrogate decides only when you have no agent or guardian (or they are not reasonably available) and your primary physician has determined you lack capacity. The surrogate must tell your providers and family that they are acting. If members of the same class disagree, the provider follows the majority; if evenly split, that class and lower classes are disqualified and the primary physician decides after consulting them. You can disqualify anyone from being your surrogate by a signed writing or by telling your supervising provider. Unless related to you, an owner, operator or employee of the facility where you receive care cannot be your surrogate. Surrogates can make mental health treatment decisions only in an emergency, after two physicians (one a psychiatrist) or a physician and a mental health clinician find you lack capacity.

• An adult you named as surrogate by personally telling your supervising health care provider
• Your spouse, unless legally separated
• An adult child
• A parent
• An adult brother or sister
• An adult who has shown special care and concern for you and knows your personal values

Law: AS 13.52.030

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

An advance health care directive, including one made under another state's law, is valid in Alaska if it complies with Alaska's chapter, regardless of where or when it was signed. A copy has the same effect as the original.

Law: AS 13.52.010(k); AS 13.52.110

Mental health directive

Alaska's advance health care directive law also covers mental health treatment. Special rules apply: capacity for mental illness is decided by a court except in emergencies, and revocation for mental health treatment takes effect when a competent principal with capacity tells a physician or provider.

Law: AS 13.52.010(g), 13.52.020(c), 13.52.120(f)

Guardianship and conservatorship in Alaska

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian of an incapacitated person (full guardian or partial guardian), temporary guardian; conservator for property

When a court may appoint one

The petitioner must prove incapacity by clear and convincing evidence. The court must then consider whether alternatives to guardianship are feasible; if they are adequate, it may dismiss the case and order another form of protection. If the person can do some but not all functions, the court may appoint only a partial guardian; a full guardian only if the person is totally without capacity to care for themselves and alternatives with a partial guardian will not work. The respondent can ask for a jury trial on incapacity.

Law: AS 13.26.201, 13.26.251

Kinds

• Full guardian
• Partial guardian
• Temporary guardian (emergency)
• Conservator
• Single transaction order

Law: AS 13.26.201-13.26.330

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

Any person, for themselves or for another person.

Law: AS 13.26.221(a)

Court

Alaska Superior Court (probate), in the proper venue under AS 13.26.216

Choosing your own

The statutory power of attorney form lets you nominate a guardian or conservator, and a written advance health care directive may nominate a guardian. A person you nominated when you had sufficient capacity has first priority.

Law: AS 13.26.650(2); AS 13.52.010(j); AS 13.26.311(d)(1)

Effect on a power of attorney

If a conservator is appointed, an agent under a durable statutory form power of attorney is accountable to the conservator as well as to you, and the conservator has the same power to revoke, suspend or end the power of attorney that you would have. A guardian cannot revoke your advance health care directive without express court authority, and your health care agent's decisions take precedence over a guardian's unless a court orders otherwise.

Law: AS 13.26.675(b); AS 13.52.040

Cost, fee waiver and forms

Filing fee

$150 filing fee for a guardianship.

Source: Alaska Court System court fees page

Fee waiver

Exemption from the payment of fees, form TF-920 (rev. 9/25)

Forms

• Adult Guardianship Petition Packet (PG-500, rev. 12/23)
• Petition for Appointment of a Guardian for an Adult (PG-100, rev. 12/23)
• Emergency Petition for Appointment of a Temporary Guardian (PG-101, rev. 10/21)
• Fee waiver (TF-920, rev. 9/25)

Steps

Steps

Other options and where to report abuse

Supported decision-making

Supported Decision-Making Agreements

Effective December 26, 2018 (ch. 108, SLA 2018, HB 336; signed September 27, 2018)

An adult can sign an agreement naming one or more supporters who help them get information, understand options and communicate their own decisions. Supporters cannot be your employer or employee or a paid service provider (unless an immediate family member), or someone under a protective order you obtained. Ending the agreement must also be in writing with two witnesses or a notary.

Dated, in writing, and signed by you and each supporter (including alternates) either in front of two adult witnesses who also sign, or with all signatures notarized. A witness cannot be a supporter or a supporter's employee or agent. Each supporter signs a separate declaration. If you have a guardian or conservator, you must notify them.

Source: Official text

Less restrictive options

• Supported Decision-Making Agreement: A written agreement naming supporters who help a person make their own decisions.
• Power of attorney (health care or general): A document the person signs while they have capacity, naming someone to act on specific issues, with no court oversight.
• Single transaction order: A court order letting someone do one specific financial or legal task for the person, for a limited purpose and time.
• Limited (partial) guardianship: A guardian with powers only in the areas where the person needs help.

Report abuse or exploitation

Alaska Department of Health, Adult Protective Services · 907-269-3666

Call or text the Eldercare Locator to find your local adult protective services: 1-800-677-1116 · eldercare.acl.gov

Law: AS 13.56.010-13.56.080

Good to know in Alaska

• An Alaska financial power of attorney must be notarized, and it is not durable unless it says so.

  Law: AS 13.26.600, 13.26.675

• On the statutory form you must mark YES for each category of power; a category left blank is not granted.

  Law: AS 13.26.645

• Your health care agent's decisions take precedence over a guardian's unless a court orders otherwise.

  Law: AS 13.52.040(b)

• Supported decision-making agreements have been recognized by statute since 2018.

  Law: AS 13.56

Questions about powers of attorney in Alaska