How to revoke a power of attorney in Arkansas
What Arkansas law says about revoking a power of attorney, and a free letter you can fill in and print.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
You can revoke the power of attorney or your agent's authority. The Act does not set a required method, but a power of attorney that was acknowledged and recorded for real estate can be revoked only by you or your legal representatives, in a writing that is acknowledged and filed for record in the county or counties where the power of attorney was meant to operate.
- If it was recorded
- A recorded power of attorney for real estate is revoked from the time the acknowledged written revocation is filed for record in the county where the power of attorney was intended to operate.
Words used in Arkansas
In Arkansas you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an agent for medical decisions in a durable power of attorney for health care; treatment wishes can go in a living will. If you have no agent, a health care provider can identify a surrogate. If an adult cannot manage, a circuit court can appoint a guardian.
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; Arkansas statutory form power of attorney
- The person you choose
- Agent (attorney in fact)
- Health care
- Durable power of attorney for health care (an advance directive under the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act)
- Treatment wishes
- Living will / declaration under the Arkansas Rights of the Terminally Ill or Permanently Unconscious Act
- Court-appointed decision-maker
- Guardian of the person, guardian of the estate, or both; limited guardian; emergency and temporary guardian; 'ward' for the person under guardianship
What Arkansas law says about revoking a power of attorney
- How to revoke
You can revoke the power of attorney or your agent's authority. The Act does not set a required method, but a power of attorney that was acknowledged and recorded for real estate can be revoked only by you or your legal representatives, in a writing that is acknowledged and filed for record in the county or counties where the power of attorney was meant to operate.
- Telling others
A revocation does not affect an agent or another person who, without actual knowledge of it, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. A new power of attorney does not revoke an earlier one unless it says so.
- If it was recorded
A recorded power of attorney for real estate is revoked from the time the acknowledged written revocation is filed for record in the county where the power of attorney was intended to operate.
Law: Ark. Code 18-12-502
Law: Ark. Code 28-68-110, 18-12-502
Source: Official text
Free letter: revoke a power of attorney
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
- It says it ends, or its purpose is accomplished
- You revoke the agent's authority, or the agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, and no other agent is named
- For the agent's authority: an action is filed to dissolve or annul the agent's marriage to you, or for legal separation, unless the document says otherwise
- Banks and other businesses
For an acknowledged statutory form power of attorney (or a military power of attorney), a person must accept it, or ask for an agent's certification, translation or lawyer's opinion, within 7 business days, and must then accept it within 5 business days after receiving it. Exceptions include good-faith doubts and reports of suspected abuse to the Department of Human Services. A person who wrongly refuses can be ordered to accept it and made to pay reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
Law: Ark. Code 28-68-119, 28-68-120
Law: Ark. Code 28-68-110
Good to know in Arkansas
- Arkansas's duty for businesses to accept a power of attorney applies to an acknowledged statutory form power of attorney (or a military one), not to every power of attorney.
Law: Ark. Code 28-68-120
- A recorded real-estate power of attorney is revoked only by an acknowledged written revocation filed for record in the county where it was meant to operate.
Law: Ark. Code 18-12-502, Act 356 of 2021
- Arkansas lets your health care provider identify a surrogate when you have no agent or guardian, following a preference list that ends with any adult who has shown special care and concern.
Law: Ark. Code 20-6-105
- Since 2025, guardianship requires clear and convincing evidence, and an ex parte emergency guardianship lasts no more than 14 days.
Law: Act 713 of 2025
Changes in 2024–2026
Act 713 of 2025: guardianship changes - definitions including emergency guardianship (up to 14 days), clear and convincing evidence standard for appointment, notice and due-process rights, and emergency/temporary guardianship procedures. Act 202 of 2025: a health care surrogate's authority to apply for public benefits and obtain financial records requires a written designation that is notarized or signed by two non-family witnesses. Act 49 of 2023 first gave surrogates that benefits authority.
Law: H.B. 1838, approved April 16, 2025; Ark. Code 28-65-101, 28-65-210, 28-65-213, 28-65-218 and others; S.B. 178; Ark. Code 20-6-106(d); S.B. 74; H.B. 1448; Act 326 of 2023 modernized probate procedure, including some guardianship sections
Free help in Arkansas
- Legal Aid of Arkansas · 1-800-952-9243
- Arkansas Department of Health: Healthcare Decision Forms
- Arkansas Attorney General: Seniors
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
Report abuse or exploitation
Arkansas Department of Human Services - Adult Maltreatment Hotline (Adult Protective Services) · 1-800-482-8049