Power of attorney in Kentucky: form, signing and powers

The form, the signing rules, durable or not, and what an agent can do in Kentucky, from Kentucky law.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Short answer

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Official form
Statutory Form Power of Attorney, with Agent's Certification
How to sign
Signed by you; the law requires no notary or witnesses
Durable unless it says otherwise?
Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Yes

Words used in Kentucky

In Kentucky you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney. For medical care, the Living Will Directive lets you name a health care surrogate and state your wishes about life-prolonging treatment and tube feeding. If an adult cannot decide and has no documents, the law lists who may make health care decisions, and the District Court can appoint a guardian or conservator after a hearing, usually before a jury.

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 form 'Statutory Form Power of Attorney'
The person you choose
Agent (the surrogate law also uses 'attorney-in-fact')
Health care
Advance directive / Living Will Directive, in which you designate a 'health care surrogate'
Treatment wishes
Living Will Directive
Court-appointed decision-maker
Guardian or limited guardian (personal affairs) and conservator or limited conservator (financial resources) for a 'disabled' or 'partially disabled' adult

Law and official form

Law
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Yes (effective July 14, 2018)
Official form
Statutory Form Power of Attorney (KRS 457.420), with Agent's Certification (KRS 457.430)Published by Kentucky General Assembly

You do not have to use it.

Covers property only, not health care. Ends with a 'Signature and Acknowledgment' notary block.

Law: KRS 457.010-457.460 (2018 Ky. Acts ch. 185; KRS 457.420, 457.430

Signing rules

How to sign

The Act requires only your signature. If you acknowledge your signature before a notary, it is presumed genuine, and banks and others must follow the acceptance rules for an 'acknowledged' power of attorney. A power of attorney used to convey real estate is recorded like a deed.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name. If someone else signs for you, the power of attorney must state the reason.

Notary
Not required
Witnesses
None required
Agent's acknowledgment

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

Law: KRS 457.130

Law: KRS 457.050, 457.190, 457.200, 382.370

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney created under the chapter is durable unless it expressly says it ends when you become incapacitated.

Law: KRS 457.040

Durable unless it says otherwise?
Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.
Starting later (springing)

It is effective when signed unless it says it starts on a future date or event. You can name who decides that the event happened. If it starts on your incapacity and no one you named can decide, it starts when a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, licensed psychologist, or qualified social worker or Cabinet employee, or an attorney or judge, determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: KRS 457.090, as amended effective July 15, 2026

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
  • Access the content of your electronic communications
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 it to give themselves, or someone they must support, an interest in your property. The chapter does not cover health care decisions unless the power of attorney says so.

Law: KRS 457.245(2); KRS 457.030(2)

Law: KRS 457.245(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
Agent pay

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

Law: KRS 457.120

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, your caregiver, or a person asked to accept the power of attorney can petition the District Court to construe it or review the agent's conduct. The court must dismiss the petition if you ask, unless it finds you lack capacity to revoke.

Law: KRS 457.160

Law: KRS 457.140

When it ends and how to revoke it

How to revoke a power of attorney in Kentucky

Official forms in Kentucky

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

Financial power of attorney

Health care directive

Guardianship / conservatorship

Good to know in Kentucky

  • A Kentucky Living Will Directive may be signed before two adult witnesses OR a notary; blood relatives, heirs, your attending physician and facility employees (except as notary) are barred.

    Law: KRS 311.625(2)

  • Appointing a guardian or conservator of the estate ends a power of attorney unless the court keeps it in effect.

    Law: KRS 457.100(1)(c)

  • Disability hearings are jury trials unless the respondent, counsel and the Commonwealth agree to a bench trial and other conditions are met.

    Law: KRS 387.570(7)

  • A recorded power of attorney is revoked only by recording a written revocation where it was recorded, or by a marginal memorandum attested by the clerk.

    Law: KRS 382.370

Changes in 2024–2026

2024 Ky. Acts ch. 138 ('Seth's Law', effective July 15, 2024) amended KRS 311.631 (who may make health care decisions without a directive). 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 77 (effective July 15, 2026) amended KRS 457.090 (who may certify incapacity for a springing power of attorney) and KRS 387.610 (renewal affidavits). 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 92 (effective October 1, 2026) and 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 207 (effective July 15, 2024) amended KRS 387.540 (interdisciplinary evaluation).

Free help in Kentucky

Report abuse or exploitation

Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Community Based Services, Adult Protection Branch · 1-877-597-2331

Questions about powers of attorney in Kentucky

What is a power of attorney called in Kentucky?

Power of attorney; statutory form 'Statutory Form Power of Attorney'. In Kentucky you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney. For medical care, the Living Will Directive lets you name a health care surrogate and state your wishes about life-prolonging treatment and tube feeding. If an adult cannot decide and has no documents, the law lists who may make health care decisions, and the District Court can appoint a guardian or conservator after a hearing, usually before a jury.

Does a power of attorney have to be notarized in Kentucky?

The Act requires only your signature. If you acknowledge your signature before a notary, it is presumed genuine, and banks and others must follow the acceptance rules for an 'acknowledged' power of attorney. A power of attorney used to convey real estate is recorded like a deed.

Is there an official power of attorney form in Kentucky?

Statutory Form Power of Attorney, with Agent's Certification. You do not have to use it.

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