Power of attorney in Iowa: form, signing and powers

Words used in Iowa

In Iowa you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an attorney in fact for health care in a separate durable power of attorney for health care. A declaration (living will) states that you do not want life-sustaining procedures if you are in a terminal condition. If an adult cannot manage and has no documents, a district court can appoint a guardian or conservator.

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; Iowa Statutory Power of Attorney

The person you choose

Agent (the law treats 'attorney in fact' as the same thing)

Health care

Durable power of attorney for health care (you name an 'attorney in fact')

Treatment wishes

Declaration under the Life-sustaining Procedures Act (often called a living will)

Court-appointed decision-maker

Guardian (personal decisions) and conservator (financial affairs); the adult is the 'protected person'

Law and official form

Law

Iowa Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes (effective July 1, 2014)

Official form

Iowa Statutory Power of Attorney Form (Iowa Code 633B.301)Published by Iowa Legislature

You do not have to use it.

The form 'may be used'; it is not required. It covers property and money only, not health care. Like any Iowa power of attorney, it must be acknowledged before a notary. An agent's certification form is in section 633B.302.

Law: Iowa Code §§ 633B.101, 633B.403 (2014 Iowa Acts ch. 1078); Iowa Code §§ 633B.301, 633B.302

Signing rules

How to sign

A power of attorney must be signed and acknowledged before a notary public or another person authorized to take acknowledgments. An agent named in the power of attorney may not notarize your signature.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name. That person cannot be someone who will be your agent.

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None required

Agent's acknowledgment

No agent signature is required. A person accepts the job of agent by acting as agent or by other conduct showing acceptance, unless the document says otherwise.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.113

Law: Iowa Code §§ 633B.105, 633B.106

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney is durable (keeps working if you become incapacitated) unless it expressly says it ends on your incapacity.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.104

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 on a future date or event. You can name who decides whether the event happened. If it starts on your incapacity and no one you named can decide, it starts when a licensed physician or licensed psychologist, or a judge or appropriate government official, determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.109

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or end a living (inter vivos) trust
• Make a gift
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Delegate authority granted under the power of attorney
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement plan survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate
• Disclaim property, including a power of appointment
• Exercise rights and powers given to an agent under Iowa Code chapter 638 (access to digital assets)

No power of attorney can

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse or descendant may not use the power of attorney to give themselves, or someone they must support, an interest in your property. A power of attorney under chapter 633B does not cover health care decisions.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.201(2); Iowa Code 633B.103

Law: Iowa Code § 633B.201(1)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act according to your reasonable expectations, if known, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith and only within the authority granted
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Use the care, competence and diligence ordinarily used by agents
• 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
• Disclose records within 30 days when asked by you, a conservator, a protective agency, a court, or after death your personal representative

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an individual agent is entitled to reimbursement of reasonable expenses but not to compensation. If the document provides for pay, or the agent is a bank or trust company, the pay must be reasonable.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.112

Asking a court to review an agent

You, the agent, a guardian or conservator, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent, descendant or presumptive heir, a beneficiary, a protective agency, a person aware of dependent adult abuse charges or an investigation involving the agent, your caregiver or another interested person, a person asked to accept the power of attorney, or a person you named in it can ask a court to interpret it or review the agent's conduct. The court must dismiss the petition if you ask, unless it finds you lack capacity to revoke. In an abuse case the court may suspend the power of attorney and appoint a guardian ad litem.

Law: Iowa Code 633B.116

Law: Iowa Code § 633B.114

When it ends and how to revoke it

How to revoke a power of attorney in Iowa

Official forms in Iowa

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

Financial power of attorney

• Iowa Statutory Power of Attorney Form (Iowa Code 633B.301) · Published by Iowa Legislature

Health care directive

• Durable power of attorney for health care - optional statutory form (Iowa Code 144B.5) · Published by Iowa Legislature · Version: Iowa Code 2026 (section last amended 2022 Iowa Acts ch. 1066)

Living will

• Declaration (Life-sustaining Procedures Act)

Guardianship / conservatorship

• Iowa Judicial Branch court forms (guardianship background check authorization, initial care plan, annual report)
• Iowa Interactive Court Forms (including Application to Defer Costs)

Free help in Iowa

• Iowa Legal Aid (serves low-income Iowans and people 60 and older)
• Iowa Judicial Branch: Guardianships, Adult (FAQ)
• Iowa Judicial Branch: Court forms
• Iowa Judicial Branch: Civil court fees and fee deferral
• Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org

Report abuse or exploitation

Iowa Department of Health and Human Services - Child or Dependent Adult Abuse Reporting (Adult Protective Services) · 1-800-362-2178

More for Iowa

• Everything about powers of attorney in Iowa
• Health care directive
• Guardianship
• Signing checklist
• Revoke a power of attorney
• What is a power of attorney?
• Durable vs springing power of attorney