Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Kansas

Financial power of attorney in Kansas

Law and official form

Law

Kansas power of attorney act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

No

Official form

Durable power of attorney form developed by the Kansas Judicial CouncilPublished by Kansas Judicial Council

You do not have to use it.

A power of attorney signed on or after July 1, 2021 is sufficient if it substantially follows the Judicial Council form. You do not have to use it. The Judicial Council also publishes an attorney in fact's certification form that businesses must treat as sufficient.

Law: K.S.A. 58-650; K.S.A. 58-652(f), 58-658(i)

Signing rules

How to sign

For a power of attorney to keep working if you become disabled, it must be called a 'durable power of attorney', include durable language like the wording in the statute, be signed and dated by you, and be acknowledged before a notary public. Businesses must accept a power of attorney that has been acknowledged before a notary, except for listed reasons.

Who signs

Signed by you. If you are physically unable to sign but competent and conscious, an adult you choose can sign your name in your presence, at your specific direction given in front of a notary public.

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None required

Law: K.S.A. 58-652(a), 58-658(g)

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney is durable only if it is called a 'durable power of attorney', states in substance that the attorney in fact's authority does not end if you become disabled, and is signed, dated and acknowledged before a notary. A nondurable power of attorney is suspended while you are disabled.

Law: K.S.A. 58-652(a); K.S.A. 58-657(c)

Durable unless it says otherwise?

No: it continues after incapacity only if it says so.

Starting later (springing)

A power of attorney can say it takes effect only on a future date, a future event or a future condition. Unless they know otherwise, people can rely on the attorney in fact's affidavit that the event or condition has happened.

Law: K.S.A. 58-652(e), 58-656(f)

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Make, amend or revoke a trust agreement
• Fund a trust you did not create with your assets
• Make or revoke a gift of your property, in trust or otherwise
• Disclaim a gift or inheritance
• Create or change survivorship interests in your property
• Name or change beneficiaries who receive property, benefits or contract rights at your death
• Consent or refuse consent to an autopsy
• Make or decline an anatomical gift of your body parts
• Nominate a guardian or conservator for you (including the attorney in fact, if the document says so)
• Consent to sale, gift or mortgage of your homestead (with your spouse's written, acknowledged consent and a legal description of the property)
• Name substitute, successor or additional attorneys in fact
• Delegate powers
• Access the content of your electronic communications
• Pay reasonable funeral and burial expenses

No power of attorney can

No power of attorney can let the attorney in fact make, amend or revoke your will; make, change or revoke your living will declaration, do-not-resuscitate directive or durable power of attorney for health care decisions; force you to do or not do something against your will; or do anything you forbade while you were not disabled.

Law: K.S.A. 58-654(g)

Law: K.S.A. 58-654(f)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act in your interest and avoid self-dealing and conflicts of interest
• Act with the care of a prudent person dealing with someone else's property
• Keep a record of receipts, payments and transactions
• Keep your property and accounts separate from their own and sign showing they act as attorney in fact
• Carefully keep your estate plan unchanged unless the document explicitly allows changes
• Stay in regular contact with you and follow your instructions when reasonably possible
• After your death, deliver your property and records to your personal representative or successors

Agent pay

Subject to the power of attorney or a separate agreement, the attorney in fact is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement of reasonable expenses.

Law: K.S.A. 58-661

Asking a court to review an agent

You can ask the district court for an accounting. If you are disabled or deceased, your legal representative, an adult family member or any person interested in your welfare can petition. The court can also decide whether you are disabled, order or restrict the attorney in fact's acts, suspend or end the power of attorney, remove the attorney in fact or appoint a conservator.

Law: K.S.A. 58-662

Law: K.S.A. 58-655, 58-656

When it ends and how to revoke it

It ends when

• The date or terms the document sets
• You tell the attorney in fact, orally or in writing, that it is modified or ended
• A written notice of termination is recorded with the register of deeds
• Your death (with limited exceptions for autopsy, anatomical gifts, electronic communications and funeral expenses for a reasonable time)
• The attorney in fact is not qualified to act
• An action for divorce, annulment or separate maintenance is filed between you and your spouse attorney in fact, unless the document says otherwise

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Kansas (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can end or change a power of attorney by telling the attorney in fact, orally or in writing, or by recording a written notice of termination with the register of deeds in the county where you live. If the power of attorney was recorded, the revocation must be recorded the same way to be effective.

Telling others

Tell the attorney in fact and every business that has the power of attorney. Businesses that act in good faith without actual knowledge of the termination are protected; a recorded notice counts as notice for real estate transactions. If the power of attorney names people who must get notice of revocation, they can rely on it until they receive notice.

If it was recorded

If the power of attorney was recorded with the register of deeds, record the revocation in the same way.

Law: K.S.A. 58-652(c)(3)

Law: K.S.A. 58-657(a), (b); K.S.A. 58-652(c), 58-657(a), 58-658, 58-659

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A business must accept a power of attorney acknowledged before a notary unless a listed exception applies (for example, it would not deal with you in the same situation, it believes in good faith the power is invalid, its request for a certification, opinion of counsel or indemnity was refused, or it reported suspected abuse). It cannot demand its own form. A court can order acceptance and award attorney fees and costs if the business did not act in good faith.

Law: K.S.A. 58-658(e)-(h)

Signed in another state

A durable power of attorney made under another state's law is governed by that law and, if durable where signed, is durable and can be used in Kansas.

Law: K.S.A. 58-663(c), (d)

Real estate

A power of attorney does not have to be recorded to be valid, but it may be recorded like a deed with the register of deeds. Third parties must check recording only for real estate transactions.

Law: K.S.A. 58-652(c), 58-658(a)(10)

Health care directive in Kansas

The document and its form

Document

Durable power of attorney for health care decisions (and a separate living will declaration)

Official form

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions (form in K.S.A. 58-632)Published by Kansas LegislatureVersion: Statutory form, L. 1989, ch. 181, § 8

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Declaration (living will) under the natural death act

The living will is a separate document.

A declaration says that if two physicians, one your attending physician, certify that you have a terminal condition, life-sustaining procedures should be withheld or withdrawn, with comfort care continued. You must arrange for your attending physician to be told about it. The statutory form says it has no effect while you are pregnant.

Living will

Law: K.S.A. 58-632; K.S.A. 65-28,103

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign and date the durable power of attorney for health care decisions in front of two qualified adult witnesses, or acknowledge it before a notary public. The living will declaration has the same choice: two qualified witnesses or a notary.

Who signs

Dated and signed by you. A living will declaration can also be signed by another person in your presence at your direction.

Notary

A notary or witnesses (your choice)

Witnesses

2 (instead of a notary)

Who cannot witness

Witnesses must be at least 18. For the durable power of attorney for health care decisions, a witness cannot be your agent, related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, someone who would inherit from you by law or under your will, or someone directly financially responsible for your health care. For the living will declaration, a witness cannot be the person who signed for you, related to you by blood or marriage, someone who would inherit from you, or someone directly financially responsible for your medical care.

Law: K.S.A. 58-629(e); K.S.A. 65-28,103(a)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Your treating health care provider, the provider's employee, and an employee, owner, director or officer of a hospital, psychiatric facility, hospice, nursing home or similar institution cannot be your agent unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, or a member of the same religious community bound by vows.

Law: K.S.A. 58-629(d)

When the agent starts

Unless the document says otherwise, the agent's powers take effect only when your attending physician determines you are impaired. The agent's acts for organ donation, autopsy and disposition of the body can continue after your death.

Law: K.S.A. 58-629(b); K.S.A. 58-629(f)

Decisions an agent cannot make

The agent cannot revoke or invalidate your existing living will declaration. The agent must act consistently with your expressed desires.

Law: K.S.A. 58-629(b); K.S.A. 58-629(c)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

The statutory durable power of attorney for health care decisions form says it is revoked by a writing signed, witnessed or notarized in the same way as the original, unless you set out another method in the document. A person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of a revocation is protected.

Law: K.S.A. 58-628, 58-632

Revoking your instructions

You can revoke a living will declaration at any time by destroying or defacing it, by a signed and dated written revocation, or by saying you revoke it in front of an adult witness who signs and dates a writing confirming it. A verbal revocation takes effect when your attending physician receives that writing.

Law: K.S.A. 65-28,104

Telling others

Give the revocation to your attending physician; the physician must record when it was received.

Law: K.S.A. 58-628, 58-632; K.S.A. 65-28,104

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

A durable power of attorney for health care decisions valid under the law of the state where you lived when you signed it is valid in Kansas.

Law: K.S.A. 58-630

Guardianship and conservatorship in Kansas

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian for an adult (full or limited), conservator (full or limited), protective arrangement instead of guardianship or conservatorship

When a court may appoint one

The court may appoint a guardian only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the adult cannot meet essential requirements for physical health, safety or self-care, even with appropriate supportive services, technology or supported decision making, and that a protective arrangement or other less restrictive alternative cannot meet the need. The court may not order a full guardianship if a limited guardianship or less restrictive alternative would work.

Law: K.S.A. 59-30,141

Kinds

• Full guardianship
• Limited guardianship
• Full or limited conservatorship
• Emergency guardian or conservator
• Protective arrangement instead of guardianship or conservatorship

Law: K.S.A. 59-30,101, 59-30,141, 59-30,142, 59-30,149

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

Any person interested in the adult's welfare, including the adult, by a verified petition.

Law: K.S.A. 59-30,142

Court

District court, usually in the county where the adult lives.

Law: K.S.A. 59-30,106

Choosing your own

You can nominate a guardian or conservator in a power of attorney or a durable power of attorney for health care decisions. The court gives high priority to your most recent nomination in a power of attorney, and a health care agent you named comes next.

Law: K.S.A. 58-656(d), 58-627(b), 59-30,149

Effect on a power of attorney

If a conservator is appointed, the attorney in fact must account to the conservator as well as to you, and the conservator has the same power to revoke or amend the durable power of attorney that you would have. A guardian of the person can revoke or amend a durable power of attorney for health care decisions, but must still follow its instructions on life-sustaining treatment.

Law: K.S.A. 58-656(c); K.S.A. 58-627(a); K.S.A. 59-30,155(c)(4)

Cost, fee waiver and forms

Filing fee

$69.50 docket fee for a guardianship, a conservatorship, or a combined guardianship and conservatorship. Other costs the court approves, such as publication of notice or service of process, are extra.

Law: K.S.A. 59-104

Fee waiver

A poverty affidavit can be filed instead of paying the docket fee.

Law: K.S.A. 59-104(b), 60-2001(b)

Other options and where to report abuse

Supported decision-making

Supported decision-making agreements act

Effective 2026 (approved April 7, 2026; effective on publication in the statute book)

An adult can choose one or more supporters to help them understand information, make and communicate their own decisions. The adult can still act without the supporter. Either side can end the agreement at any time by a dated, signed writing; it also ends if the adult becomes incapacitated. A supporter owes the adult a fiduciary duty.

Dated and in writing, naming each supporter and describing their help, with a notice to third parties and a signed declaration by each supporter. You and each supporter sign under penalty of perjury. The agreement must substantially follow the Judicial Council form. If you have a guardian or conservator, you must notify them.

Source: Official text

Less restrictive options

• Supported decision making: Trusted people help the adult make their own decisions.
• Power of attorney for finances or health care: The adult names an agent while able to do so.
• Representative payee: A payee manages Social Security or other benefit payments.
• Protective arrangement instead of guardianship or conservatorship: The court orders a specific, limited protection without appointing a guardian or conservator.

Report abuse or exploitation

Kansas Department for Children and Families, Adult Protective Services (Kansas Protection Report Center) · 1-800-922-5330

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

Law: 2026 Kan. Sess. Laws ch. 77, §§ 3-7

Good to know in Kansas

• Since January 1, 2026, Kansas guardianships and conservatorships are governed by the Kansas uniform guardianship, conservatorship and other protective arrangements act, which requires the court to consider less restrictive alternatives first.

  Law: K.S.A. 59-30,101 et seq

• In 2026 Kansas enacted a supported decision-making agreements act.

  Law: 2026 Session Laws ch. 77, SB 84

• A Kansas power of attorney is durable only if it is called a 'durable power of attorney', says so, and is notarized.

  Law: K.S.A. 58-652

• If a power of attorney was recorded with the register of deeds, the revocation must also be recorded.

  Law: K.S.A. 58-652(c)(3)

Changes in 2024–2026

L. 2025, ch. 40, effective January 1, 2026; it also amended K.S.A. 58-656 and 58-662.

Law: Kansas uniform guardianship, conservatorship and other protective arrangements act, K.S.A. 59-30,101 to 59-30,212; SB 84; 2026 Session Laws ch. 77, approved April 7, 2026: supported decision-making agreements act

Questions about powers of attorney in Kansas