Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Colorado

Financial power of attorney in Colorado

Law and official form

Law

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes (effective January 1, 2010 (HB 09-1198))

Official form

State of Colorado Statutory Form Power of Attorney (C.R.S. 15-14-741), with optional Agent's Certification (C.R.S. 15-14-742)Published by Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services

You do not have to use it.

You do not have to use this form. The statutory form says it does not give the agent authority to make health care decisions.

Law: C.R.S. § 15-14-701 et seq; C.R.S. §§ 15-14-741, 15-14-742

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign the power of attorney. Colorado law does not require witnesses or a notary for it to be valid. If you acknowledge your signature before a notary, the signature is presumed genuine, and the rules that require banks and others to accept a power of attorney apply only to an acknowledged (notarized) one.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

None required

Agent's acknowledgment

No signed acceptance is required. An agent accepts by acting as agent or by other conduct showing acceptance.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-713

Electronic signing

A power of attorney can be a 'record' and can be 'signed' electronically under the Act's definitions; a photocopy or electronically sent copy has the same effect as the original, though a third party may ask for the original.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-702(7), (11), (12), 15-14-706(4), 15-14-744

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-14-705, 15-14-706, 15-14-719, 15-14-720

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney created on or after January 1, 2010, is durable unless it expressly says it ends if you become incapacitated.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-704

Durable unless it says otherwise?

Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.

Starting later (springing)

A power of attorney takes effect when signed unless it says it starts at a future date or event. You can name one or more people to decide in writing that the event has happened. If it starts on your incapacity and no one you named can decide, a physician or licensed psychologist can determine incapacity in writing (or an attorney, judge or government official if you are missing, detained or unable to return to the U.S.).

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-709

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or end a living trust
• Make a gift
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Delegate authority under the power of attorney
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you can delegate, or name, remove or direct a fiduciary
• Disclaim or release property or a power of appointment
• Exercise a power of appointment (with limited exceptions)
• Act for a partnership, LLC or other entity you do not solely own

No power of attorney can

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse or descendant cannot use it to give themselves (or someone they must support) an interest in your property. A power of attorney under this Act does not cover health care decisions.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-724(2); C.R.S. 15-14-703(1)(b)

Law: C.R.S. § 15-14-724(1)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act in line with your reasonable expectations as far as the agent knows them, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith and only within the authority you gave
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Act with the care, competence and diligence agents ordinarily use
• Keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions
• Cooperate with your health care decision-maker
• Try to preserve your estate plan, if known and in your best interest

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent is entitled to repayment of reasonable expenses and to reasonable compensation.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-712

Asking a court to review an agent

You, your agent, a guardian or conservator, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent or descendant, a presumptive heir, a beneficiary, a protective agency, your caregiver or another interested person, and a person asked to accept the power can ask a court to interpret it or review the agent's conduct. The court must dismiss the petition at your request unless it finds you lack capacity to revoke. An agent must disclose transactions within 30 days (plus 30 more if explained) when asked by you, a guardian, conservator, protective agency or, after death, your personal representative.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-716; C.R.S. 15-14-714(8)

Law: C.R.S. § 15-14-714

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 the power of attorney
• The power of attorney says it ends
• 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 a spouse-agent, when an action for divorce, annulment or legal separation is filed, unless the document says otherwise

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Colorado (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke your power of attorney or an agent's authority. Colorado's Uniform Power of Attorney Act does not set a required form or method for revoking. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an old one unless the new one says so.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-710(6)

Telling others

Revocation does not affect an agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of it; their acts still bind you. A person asked to accept the power of attorney does not have to accept it if they actually know the agent's authority or the power of attorney has ended.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-710(4); C.R.S. 15-14-720

Law: C.R.S. § 15-14-710; C.R.S. §§ 15-14-710, 15-14-720

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

For an acknowledged (notarized) power of attorney, a person must accept it, or ask for an agent's certification, an English translation or a lawyer's opinion, within 7 business days, and then accept within 5 business days after receiving it. It may not demand a different form. Exceptions include not otherwise dealing with you, a good-faith belief the power is invalid, and a report of suspected abuse. Wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and liability for attorney's fees and costs. The optional agent's certification form is in C.R.S. 15-14-742.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-719, 15-14-720

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside Colorado is valid if its signing met the law of the state named in it (or, if none, where it was signed), or the federal military power of attorney rules.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-706(3), 15-14-707

Health care directive in Colorado

The document and its form

Document

Medical durable power of attorney (Colorado Patient Autonomy Act); separately, a declaration as to medical treatment (living will)

Living will

Declaration as to medical treatment (Colorado Medical Treatment Decision Act)

The living will is a separate document.

An adult with decisional capacity can sign a declaration directing that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn if they have a terminal condition or are in a persistent vegetative state and cannot decide. You can state whether artificial nutrition and hydration should be stopped, continued for a set time, or continued. Sign it in front of two witnesses, or acknowledge it before a notary. If you cannot sign, someone else can sign for you in your presence at your direction. These people cannot sign for you or serve as witness or notary: any physician, an employee of your attending physician or of the facility where you are a patient, anyone with a claim against your estate, and anyone who expects to inherit from you under a will or as an heir. You or someone for you must give it to your doctor. It can be combined with a medical durable power of attorney.

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-18-104, 15-18-105, 15-18-106

Signing rules

How to sign

Colorado's Patient Autonomy Act does not set witness or notary requirements for a medical durable power of attorney. A living will (declaration) has its own signing rule: two witnesses or a notary.

Who signs

A written medical durable power of attorney signed by you.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

None required

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-14-501, 15-14-505, 15-14-506

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

When the agent starts

Your agent can consent to or refuse medical treatment for you when you lack decisional capacity, and has the same rights as you to see your medical records.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-506(3)

Decisions an agent cannot make

Your agent must follow the directions and limits in the document and your known wishes, otherwise your best interests. No agent may consent to or refuse treatment over your objection. A provider is not required to give treatment that is illegal or medically inappropriate.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-506(2); C.R.S. 15-14-506(4)(a); C.R.S. 15-14-506(5)(b)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You keep the right to revoke your agent's authority. The Act does not prescribe a form for doing so.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-506(4)(a)

Revoking your instructions

A living will (declaration) can be revoked orally, in writing, or by burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating or destroying it.

Law: C.R.S. 15-18-109

Telling others

A doctor may follow a living will that looks properly signed unless they have actual notice of revocation. Withholding information about a revocation is a crime.

Law: C.R.S. 15-18-110; C.R.S. 15-18-113(4)

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Colorado (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

A medical durable power of attorney signed under the Patient Autonomy Act prevails over an older (pre-July 1992) durable power of attorney with medical authority. A living will prevails over a conflicting general durable power of attorney, unless you wrote that your agent may override it.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-506(6); C.R.S. 15-18-112(3), (4)

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-14-506(4), (5)(c), 15-18-109

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If your doctor finds you lack decisional capacity and you have no guardian, medical agent or other legal decision-maker, the doctor must try to find interested persons. They must try to agree on one proxy decision-maker, who should be the person closest to you and most likely to know your current wishes. There is no ranked order. If they cannot agree, any of them may start a guardianship case. If no interested person can be found or is willing, a physician may be designated with an ethics committee's agreement. A proxy may refuse tube feeding or fluids only after two physicians, one trained in neurology or neurosurgery, certify the conditions in the law.

• Interested persons together choose one proxy decision-maker by consensus: your spouse, either parent, any adult child, sibling or grandchild, or a close friend

Law: C.R.S. § 15-18.5-103

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

A medical durable power of attorney signed in another state is presumed to comply with Colorado law and may be relied on in good faith. A living will valid where it was signed is effective in Colorado to the extent it does not violate Colorado law.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-509; C.R.S. 15-18-108(6)

POLST (medical orders)

Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST)

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-18.7-101 to 15-18.7-110

Guardianship and conservatorship in Colorado

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian (limited or unlimited) for personal decisions; conservator (limited or unlimited) for the estate; emergency guardian; temporary substitute guardian

When a court may appoint one

An 'incapacitated person' is an adult who cannot effectively receive or evaluate information, or make or communicate decisions, to the extent they cannot meet essential requirements for physical health, safety or self-care, even with appropriate technological help. The court may appoint a guardian only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is incapacitated and their needs cannot be met by less restrictive means, and should grant only the powers needed. A conservator may be appointed if, by clear and convincing evidence, the person cannot manage property and business affairs, and property will be wasted or money is needed for support.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-102(5), 15-14-311; C.R.S. 15-14-401

Kinds

• Unlimited guardian
• Limited guardian
• Emergency guardian (up to 60 days)
• Temporary substitute guardian
• Unlimited or limited conservator, or another protective order

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-14-102, 15-14-304, 15-14-310, 15-14-311, 15-14-312, 15-14-401

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

The person themselves or any person interested in their welfare.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-304(1)

Court

District court in the county (in Denver, the Denver Probate Court).

Choosing your own

You can nominate a conservator or guardian in your power of attorney; the court must follow your most recent nomination except for good cause or disqualification. Your nominee, your medical agent and your financial agent also have priority for appointment as guardian.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-708(1); C.R.S. 15-14-310

Effect on a power of attorney

If a conservator is appointed, the agent is accountable to the conservator as well as to you, and the power of attorney continues unless the court limits, suspends or ends it.

Law: C.R.S. 15-14-708(2)

Other options and where to report abuse

Supported decision-making

Supported Decision-Making Agreements for Adults with a Disability

Effective September 7, 2021 (SB 21-075)

An adult with a disability can choose members of their 'supportive community' to help them understand choices, get information and communicate decisions. The adult keeps the final decision. Supporters cannot be paid for this help. Anyone can end the agreement at any time by written or verbal notice, and it ends automatically if APS finds the supporter mistreated the adult. An agreement cannot be used as evidence of incapacity.

The agreement can be in any form but must contain the items listed in the law, and must be signed voluntarily by the adult and each supporter in front of two or more disinterested adult witnesses, or a notary public.

Source: Official text

Less restrictive options

• Supported decision-making agreement: Trusted supporters help an adult with a disability make their own decisions; no court is involved.
• Medical and financial powers of attorney, limited guardianship or conservatorship, release-of-information forms, representative payees: The legislature lists these as other ways for adults with disabilities to make decisions and express preferences.

Report abuse or exploitation

County department of human services Adult Protective Services (Colorado Department of Human Services)

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

Law: C.R.S. §§ 15-14-803, 15-14-805

Good to know in Colorado

• A Colorado financial power of attorney does not need a notary or witnesses to be valid, but banks' duty to accept it applies only to a notarized (acknowledged) one.

  Law: C.R.S. 15-14-705, 15-14-719, 15-14-720

• Filing for divorce or legal separation ends a spouse-agent's financial authority; for a medical agent, the divorce or separation itself revokes the appointment.

  Law: C.R.S. 15-14-710(2)(c); C.R.S. 15-14-506(5)(c)

• Colorado has no ranked family list for medical decisions: family and close friends must agree on one proxy decision-maker.

  Law: C.R.S. 15-18.5-103

• HB 26-1100 (2026) adds a Guardianship Bill of Rights for wards and a 30-day notice before a permanent move to a nursing home or restrictive facility.

  Law: C.R.S. 15-14-103, 15-14-314(2)(h)

Changes in 2024–2026

HB 26-1100 (signed by the Governor May 29, 2026; Session Laws 2026, chapter 227; effective August 12, 2026): adds C.R.S. 15-14-103 Guardianship Bill of Rights (rights kept by the ward; decisions a court may give the guardian; the ward keeps the rights to vote, reproductive health and marital status unless the order restricts them) and 15-14-314(2)(h). HB 26-1040 (became law, 2026) changed sterilization rules for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act was introduced in 2024 and 2025 and was lost both times. No 2024-2026 bills found amending the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, the Patient Autonomy Act or the Medical Treatment Decision Act.

Law: SB 24-136; SB 25-134

Source: 30 days' notice to the ward before a permanent move to a restrictive facility

Questions about powers of attorney in Colorado