Power of attorney in Alaska: form, signing and powers

The form, the signing rules, durable or not, and what an agent can do in Alaska, from Alaska law.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Short answer

Powers of attorney, AS 13.26.600 to 13.26.695

Official form: General Power of Attorney, with optional provisions in AS 13.26.650
How to sign: Notarized
Durable unless it says otherwise?: No: it continues after incapacity only if it says so.
Uniform Power of Attorney Act: No

Words used in Alaska

In Alaska you name an agent for money and property in a general power of attorney. For health care, one advance health care directive can name an agent (the durable power of attorney for health care) and give your own instructions. If an adult cannot decide and has no documents, the superior court can appoint a guardian or conservator, but only if less restrictive options will not work.

An agent (also called an attorney-in-fact) is the person you choose to act for you. You are the principal.

Money and property: Power of attorney; statutory form 'General Power of Attorney'
The person you choose: Agent
Health care: Advance health care directive (Part 1 is a durable power of attorney for health care)
Treatment wishes: Individual instructions (Part 2 of the advance health care directive)
Court-appointed decision-maker: Guardian of an incapacitated person (full or partial); conservator for money and property

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

How to revoke a power of attorney in Alaska

Official forms in Alaska

Forms published by the state or its courts. You open them on the official site.

Financial power of attorney

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

Health care directive

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

Guardianship / conservatorship

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

Free help in Alaska

Report abuse or exploitation

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

Questions about powers of attorney in Alaska

What is a power of attorney called in Alaska?

Power of attorney; statutory form 'General Power of Attorney'. In Alaska you name an agent for money and property in a general power of attorney. For health care, one advance health care directive can name an agent (the durable power of attorney for health care) and give your own instructions. If an adult cannot decide and has no documents, the superior court can appoint a guardian or conservator, but only if less restrictive options will not work.

Does a power of attorney have to be notarized in Alaska?

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.

Is there an official power of attorney form in Alaska?

General Power of Attorney, with optional provisions in AS 13.26.650. You do not have to use it.