How to Revoke a Power of Attorney in District of Columbia

Words used in the District of Columbia

In the District you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an attorney in fact for medical decisions in a separate durable power of attorney for health care. A Natural Death Act declaration is a separate document about life-sustaining procedures in a terminal condition. If an adult is incapacitated and has no documents, the Probate Division of D.C. Superior Court can appoint a guardian or conservator in an intervention proceeding.

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 power of attorney form
The person you choose: Agent (the act also covers an 'attorney-in-fact')
Health care: Durable power of attorney for health care (the person you name is your 'attorney in fact')
Treatment wishes: Declaration under the Natural Death Act (directing that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn in a terminal condition)
Court-appointed decision-maker: Guardian (general, limited, temporary, emergency or health-care guardian) and conservator, appointed in an 'intervention proceeding'

What the District of Columbia law says about revoking a power of attorney

How to revoke

You can revoke the power of attorney, or one agent's authority. The act does not prescribe a general method; a signed written revocation sent to the agent and to anyone who has the power of attorney is the clearest record. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an older one unless the new one says so.

Telling others

Tell the agent and give copies to banks and others who have the power of attorney. An agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of the revocation is protected, and those acts bind you.

If it was recorded

If a power of attorney relating to real property was recorded with the Recorder of Deeds, you can revoke it by recording a document containing the revocation with the Recorder of Deeds. That revocation can leave the other powers in place if it says so.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.10(g)

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.10(a)(3), (b)(1), (d), (f), (g)

Source: Official text

Free letter: revoke a power of attorney

Date of the letter (required)

Your full name (required)

Your phone or email (optional)

Your mailing address (required)

Date of the power of attorney (required)

The date on the document you signed. If you are not sure, use your best estimate.

Agent's full name (required)

How will you deliver it?

Agent's mailing address (required)

Revocation takes effect on (required)

Banks and businesses to send a copy to (optional, one per line)

These names go into your letter only. They are never saved or sent to us.

Anything else to add (optional, in English)

Other formats

Sign the letter and keep a copy. This tool does not check whether your document is valid, and it is not legal advice.

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
Its purpose is accomplished
The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, resigns or is revoked, and no other agent is named
An action is filed to divorce, annul or legally separate you from your agent-spouse

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 7 business days, and then accept within 5 business days after getting it. They cannot demand a different form. They may refuse only for listed reasons, for example a good faith belief the power is invalid, a report of suspected abuse to Adult Protective Services or the Department of Aging and Community Living, or knowledge that the agent was charged with an intrafamily offense against you. A wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and payment of attorney's fees and costs.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.20

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.10(a)-(b)

Related rules in the District of Columbia

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 7 business days, and then accept within 5 business days after getting it. They cannot demand a different form. They may refuse only for listed reasons, for example a good faith belief the power is invalid, a report of suspected abuse to Adult Protective Services or the Department of Aging and Community Living, or knowledge that the agent was charged with an intrafamily offense against you. A wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and payment of attorney's fees and costs.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.20

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside the District is valid here if its signing followed the law of the place it names (or where it was signed), or the federal military power of attorney rules. A photocopy or electronically submitted copy has the same effect as the original.

Law: D.C. Code §§ 21-2601.06, 21-2601.07

Real estate

A power of attorney that lets the agent sell, grant or release an interest in real property must be signed in the same manner as a deed, must carry the statutory real estate notice at the top of the first page (choosing all your real property or a specific property), and must be recorded with or before the deed. If recorded earlier, the deed must refer to its recording date and instrument number at the Recorder of Deeds.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2603.03

Health care directive in the District of Columbia

Revoking your agent

While you have capacity, you can revoke your attorney in fact's appointment by telling the attorney in fact orally or in writing, or revoke their authority by telling your health care provider orally or in writing. You are presumed to have capacity to revoke.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2208(a), (c)

Revoking your instructions

A Natural Death Act declaration can be revoked at any time, whatever your mental state, by destroying it (or having someone destroy it in your presence at your direction), by a signed and dated written revocation, or by saying you revoke it in front of a witness 18 or older who signs and dates a writing confirming it. A written or verbal revocation takes effect when it is communicated to your attending physician.

Law: D.C. Code § 7-624

Telling others

A health care provider told of a revocation must note it in your records and make a reasonable effort to tell the attorney in fact. For a declaration, the attending physician records when the revocation was received.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2208(b); § 7-624

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in the District of Columbia (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

Unless it says otherwise, a valid durable power of attorney for health care revokes any earlier durable power of attorney for health-care decisions.

Law: D.C. Code § 21-2208(d)

Law: D.C. Code §§ 21-2208, 7-624

Good to know in the District of Columbia

A District power of attorney is not valid unless it is notarized (acknowledged).
Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.05(b)
Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an individual agent in the District is not paid, only reimbursed for expenses.
Law: D.C. Code § 21-2601.12
The default decision-maker list includes a religious superior and a close friend, and a witness must be present when a family member or friend gives or refuses consent.
Law: D.C. Code § 21-2210
Incapacity for health care decisions must be certified by two professionals, one a physician and one a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Law: D.C. Code § 21-2204

Free help in the District of Columbia

Report abuse or exploitation

Adult Protective Services, D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living (24-hour hotline) · 202-541-3950

How to revoke a power of attorney in the District of Columbia

Short answer

Words used in the District of Columbia

What the District of Columbia law says about revoking a power of attorney

Free letter: revoke a power of attorney

When it ends and how to revoke it

Good to know in the District of Columbia

Free help in the District of Columbia

Report abuse or exploitation

More for the District of Columbia