Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Maryland

Financial power of attorney in Maryland

Law and official form

Law

Maryland General and Limited Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

No

Official form

Maryland Statutory Form Personal Financial Power of Attorney (Est. & Trusts § 17-202) and Maryland Statutory Form Limited Power of Attorney (§ 17-203)Published by Maryland General Assembly (forms printed in the statute)

You do not have to use it.

You may use a document substantially in one of these forms. Both forms end with a notary acknowledgment and a witness attestation for two witnesses. A business may not demand a different form for authority granted in a statutory form. The limited form's 'Grant of Specific Authority' items (gifts, trusts, beneficiary changes and others) apply only if you initial them.

Law: § 17-201; § 17-104

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 17-101 to 17-204; Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 17-201 to 17-203

Signing rules

How to sign

A Maryland power of attorney signed on or after October 1, 2010 must be in writing, signed by you, acknowledged before a notary public, and attested and signed by two adult witnesses. The notary can count as one witness. Electronic or remote signing has extra rules, including a supervising attorney.

Who signs

Signed by you (the principal), or by another person for you in your physical presence and at your express direction.

Notary

Required

Witnesses

2

Who cannot witness

Two or more adult witnesses must attest and sign in the presence of you and each other (physical or electronic presence). The notary who takes your acknowledgment may also be one of the two witnesses.

Electronic signing

A power of attorney may be signed and witnessed electronically or remotely if the principal is in or a resident of Maryland, remote witnesses are U.S. residents located in the U.S., and a supervising attorney is present and creates a certified paper power of attorney. The notary may act remotely under State Government § 18-214.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-110(a)-(d)

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 17-110

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A written power of attorney is durable (keeps working if you become disabled or incompetent) unless its terms say otherwise.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-105(c)

Durable unless it says otherwise?

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

Starting later (springing)

A power of attorney works when signed unless it says it starts on a later date or event. You can name people to decide in writing that the event happened. If it starts on incapacity and no one is named (or they will not decide), a physician or licensed psychologist, or an attorney, judge or appropriate government official, can determine incapacity in writing.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-111

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Make gifts or transfers (and in what amounts and to whom)
• Make gifts or transfers in favor of the agent
• Create and fund a trust (including a special needs trust) or an ABLE account
• Amend, revoke or terminate an existing trust, if the trust allows it
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Authorize another person to exercise the agent's authority
• Waive your right to a joint and survivor annuity or retirement survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you can delegate
• Disclaim or refuse an interest in property
• Access the content of your electronic communications

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act in line with your reasonable expectations as far as the agent knows them, otherwise in your best interest
• Act with care, competence and diligence
• Act only within the authority given
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Keep records of all receipts, payments and transactions
• Cooperate with your health care decision-maker
• Try to keep your estate plan in place when that is in your best interest
• When asked by you, a guardian, another fiduciary or a protective agency, disclose transactions within 30 days (or explain why more time is needed, up to 30 more days)

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent is repaid reasonable expenses but is NOT entitled to compensation. If the power of attorney says the agent is to be paid, pay is what is reasonable or as the document sets.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-114

Asking a court to review an agent

You, the agent, a guardian or other fiduciary, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent or descendant, a presumptive heir, a beneficiary, a protective government agency, your caregiver, or a person asked to accept the power of attorney can ask a court to interpret it or review the agent's conduct. If you have capacity, the court must dismiss the petition at your request.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-103

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 17-102, 17-113

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
• It says it ends (a date or event)
• Its purpose is accomplished
• The agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, or you revoke the agent's authority, and no other agent is named
• For an agent married to you: an action is filed for divorce, annulment or legal separation, unless the power of attorney says otherwise
• A guardian revokes or ends it

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Maryland (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke a power of attorney or an agent's authority. Title 17 does not prescribe a form or method.

Telling others

Tell the agent and every bank or business that has a copy. Death, disability or incompetence does not end the agency for an agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of it.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-106

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 17-105(e), 17-112; Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 17-106, 17-112

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A person may not require an additional or different form of power of attorney for authority granted in a statutory form. Refusing an acknowledged statutory form power of attorney in violation of this rule can lead to a court order to accept it and liability for reasonable attorney's fees and costs. An agent's affidavit that they did not know of a revocation or termination is conclusive proof for good-faith acts; an optional Agent's Certification form is in § 17-204.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-104; § 17-106(b)

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside Maryland is valid in Maryland if its signing followed the law of the state that governs it, or the federal military power of attorney rules.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-108(b)

Real estate

An electronic power of attorney used for a real estate transaction is excluded from the remote/electronic signing procedure in § 17-110(c). A clerk of court may refuse to record a photocopy or electronic copy.

Law: § 17-108(c)

Health care directive in Maryland

The document and its form

Document

Advance Directive (Maryland Health Care Decisions Act)

Official form

Maryland Advance Directive: Planning for Future Health Care Decisions (Part I health care agent, Part II treatment preferences/living will, Part III signature and witnesses)Published by Maryland Department of Health, Advance Directive Program (accessible version prepared from the Office of the Attorney General's May 2024 forms; the Attorney General's former form page now redirects to its homepage)Version: Prepared from the May 2024 Attorney General forms; PDF modified April 2026

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Part II: Treatment Preferences ('Living Will')

Part of the directive.

Maryland's advance directive form has a living will section (Part II) for your treatment preferences, such as about life-sustaining procedures. You can fill in Part I, Part II or both, then sign in front of two witnesses.

Law: Md. Code, Health-Gen. §§ 5-602, 5-603

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign and date the advance directive in front of two witnesses who also sign it. No notary is needed. You can also make an oral advance directive in front of your attending physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner and one witness, documented in your medical record.

Who signs

Dated and signed by you, or at your express direction.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

2

Who cannot witness

Any competent individual may witness, including a health care facility employee or your physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner acting in good faith. Your health care agent cannot be a witness. At least one witness must not knowingly be entitled to any part of your estate or any financial benefit from your death.

Nursing facilities and special settings

An owner, operator or employee of a health care facility where you receive care (or their spouse, parent, child or sibling) cannot be your agent unless they would qualify as your surrogate or you named them before you began receiving care there.

Electronic signing

An electronic advance directive may be witnessed in the electronic presence of the witnesses. The State-designated health information exchange may accept an unwitnessed, dated video advance directive stored by an electronic advance directives service recognized by the Maryland Health Care Commission; an unwitnessed electronic directive must be submitted to such a service.

Law: Health-Gen. §§ 5-602(c), 5-623(c)

Law: Md. Code, Health-Gen. § 5-602

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Any adult, except: an owner, operator or employee of a health care facility treating you (or their close relative), unless they would qualify as your surrogate or were named before you began receiving care there; a person subject to a protective order protecting you; and your spouse after a separation agreement or divorce filing, unless you still want them to serve.

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-602(b)

When the agent starts

Unless your directive says otherwise, it takes effect when your attending physician and a second physician certify in writing that you are incapable of making an informed decision (only one if you are unconscious or cannot communicate).

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-602(e)

Decisions an agent cannot make

Without an agent, life-sustaining procedures may be withheld under a directive or by a surrogate only if two practitioners certify a terminal or end-stage condition, or two physicians (one with cognitive expertise) certify a persistent vegetative state. You may choose in your directive to waive your right to revoke it while you are certified incapable.

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-606(b); § 5-604(a)(2)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke an advance directive, including your choice of agent, at any time by a signed and dated written or electronic document, by cancelling or destroying it, by telling a health care practitioner, or by making a new directive. An oral revocation must be documented in your medical record by the practitioner and a witness.

Revoking your instructions

The same methods apply to the rest of the directive.

Telling others

You are responsible, as far as reasonably possible, for telling anyone who has a copy. If the directive is registered with an electronic advance directives service, you must notify the service.

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-604(c); § 5-623(b)

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Maryland (Divorce Law Map)

Law: Md. Code, Health-Gen. §§ 5-602(b)(3), 5-604

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If you have been certified incapable and have no available agent, people in this order may decide; a lower class may decide only if everyone in the higher class is unavailable. A spouse after a separation agreement or divorce filing, or a person under a protective order, cannot decide. If people in the same class disagree in a hospital, the case goes to the patient care advisory committee.

1. A guardian
2. Your spouse or domestic partner
3. An adult child
4. A parent
5. An adult brother or sister
6. A friend or other relative who gives the attending physician an affidavit showing regular contact with you

Law: Md. Code, Health-Gen. § 5-605

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

An advance directive, EMS do-not-resuscitate order or life-sustaining treatment order made in another state is valid in Maryland if it follows Maryland law or the law of the state where it was made.

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-617

Registry

Electronic advance directives service recognized by the Maryland Health Care Commission (the Maryland Department of Health links MyDirectives)

POLST (medical orders)

Maryland Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)

Official page

Mental health directive

You can make an advance directive for mental health services, following the same signing and revocation rules as other advance directives. It can name an agent for mental health decisions, preferred providers and medications, and instructions on releasing information.

Law: Health-Gen. § 5-602.1

Law: Md. Code, Health-Gen. §§ 5-619 to 5-623; Md. Code, Health-Gen. § 5-608.1

Guardianship and conservatorship in Maryland

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian of the person, guardian of the property (of a disabled person)

When a court may appoint one

A guardian of the person may be appointed only on clear and convincing evidence that the person lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible personal decisions (health care, food, clothing, shelter) because of a mental disability, disease, habitual drunkenness or drug addiction, AND that no less restrictive form of intervention is available. The petition needs certificates from two licensed physicians, or a physician plus a psychologist, licensed certified social worker-clinical or nurse practitioner; at least one exam within 21 days before filing. A guardian of the property may be appointed if the person cannot manage property and affairs effectively because of disability or other listed causes and has property needing management.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 13-705; § 13-201

Kinds

• Guardian of the person
• Guardian of the property
• Both
• Standby guardian (Maryland Courts Help Center topic)

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 13-201, 13-207, 13-705, 13-707

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

An interested person files a petition in the circuit court under Title 10 of the Maryland Rules.

Source: form CC-GN-002

Court

Circuit court for the county where the person lives.

Source: guardianship of the property can also be in the Orphans' Court in some counties, per form CC-GN-005

Choosing your own

You can sign a designation (at age 16 or older) nominating your guardian of the person or property; nominees have first priority, and your health care agent has second priority for guardian of the person. Court form CC-GN-009 is for designating a guardian of the property.

Law: Est. & Trusts §§ 13-207, 13-707

Effect on a power of attorney

If a guardian is appointed, the agent must account to the guardian rather than to you, and the guardian can revoke, suspend or end all or part of the power of attorney as you could.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-105(e)

Cost, fee waiver and forms

Filing fee

$165 circuit court filing fee for a civil action or proceeding (this total includes a $55 Maryland Legal Services Corporation Fund surcharge and a $30 records improvement fund surcharge), Circuit Court Fee Schedule effective September 2, 2026. The court may also order payment toward the court-appointed attorney for the alleged disabled person.

Fee waiver

Maryland Courts filing fee waiver process (https://www.mdcourts.gov/legalhelp/filingfeewaivers). If the alleged disabled person is indigent, the State pays a reasonable fee for their court-appointed attorney.

Law: Est. & Trusts § 13-705(d)

Forms

• CC-GN-002 Petition for Guardianship of Alleged Disabled Person (Rev. 10/2026)
• CC-GN-005 Certificate of Health Care Professional (Rev. 11/2020)
• Maryland Courts guardianship forms list

Steps

Steps

Other options and where to report abuse

Supported decision-making

Supported Decision Making

Effective October 1, 2022 (HB 529, 2022 session)

An adult can choose supporters to help gather and understand information, weigh options and communicate decisions. Supporters cannot make decisions for the adult. The agreement is not evidence of incapacity and does not override a power of attorney or advance directive. The adult can revoke it at any time, orally or in writing.

The agreement must be in writing, dated, name at least one supporter, describe the help, and be signed by the adult and each supporter, with each signature witnessed by two adults who are not supporters or their employees or agents. Court approval is needed if it affects a guardian's authority.

Source: Official text

Less restrictive options

• Advance directives: Name a health care agent and record treatment wishes.
• Surrogate decision-making: Family members can make health care decisions under the Health Care Decisions Act without a court.
• Powers of attorney: An agent handles money and property.
• Representative payees: A payee manages government benefits.
• Supported decision-making: Supporters help the adult make their own decisions.
• Mediation: A neutral mediator helps families explore options that avoid, limit or end a guardianship.

Report abuse or exploitation

Adult Protective Services (Maryland Department of Human Services, local departments of social services) · 1-800-917-7383

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

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 18-101 to 18-109

Good to know in Maryland

• A Maryland power of attorney needs BOTH a notary and two adult witnesses; the notary may be one of the witnesses.

  Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-110

• Unless the document says so, a Maryland agent is not paid for serving, only reimbursed for expenses.

  Law: Est. & Trusts § 17-114

• An advance directive needs two witnesses but no notary; your agent cannot witness, and at least one witness must not benefit from your death.

  Law: Health-Gen. § 5-602

• Maryland has had a supported decision-making law since October 1, 2022.

  Law: Est. & Trusts Title 18

Changes in 2024–2026

Attorney General advance directive forms revised May 2024 (now published by the Maryland Department of Health as an accessible version). Circuit Court Fee Schedule revised effective September 2, 2026. Guardianship petition form CC-GN-002 revised 10/2026.

Questions about powers of attorney in Maryland