Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Oklahoma

Financial power of attorney in Oklahoma

Law and official form

Law

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes (effective November 1, 2021)

Official form

Statutory Power of Attorney form (58 O.S. § 3041), with Agent's Certification (58 O.S. § 3042)Published by Oklahoma Legislature

You do not have to use it.

Covers property only, not health care. Ends with a 'Signature and Acknowledgment' (notary) block. An older optional form under the Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney Act is still in the statutes; that form is 'legally sufficient' only if your signature is acknowledged before a notary.

Law: 15 O.S. § 1003, 1998; 15 O.S. § 1003(B)

Law: 58 O.S. §§ 3001-3045 (Laws 2021, c. 332); 58 O.S. §§ 3041, 3042; 15 O.S. §§ 1001-1020

Signing rules

How to sign

The Uniform Power of Attorney 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. The statutory forms include a notary block, and the older 15 O.S. § 1003 form must be notarized.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name.

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: 58 O.S. § 3013

Law: 58 O.S. §§ 3005, 3019, 3020; 15 O.S. § 1003(B)

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

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

Law: 58 O.S. § 3004

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 or licensed psychologist, or an attorney, judge or appropriate government official, determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: 58 O.S. § 3009

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
• Disclaim property, including a power of appointment

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 Act does not apply to a power to make health care decisions.

Law: 58 O.S. § 3024(B); 58 O.S. § 3003

Law: 58 O.S. § 3024(A)

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
• An agent is bound by the standards of conduct and liability that apply to other fiduciaries

Agent pay

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

Law: 58 O.S. § 3012

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 ask a 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: 58 O.S. § 3016

Law: 58 O.S. §§ 3014, 1081

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, or its purpose is accomplished
• The agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, or you revoke the agent's authority, and no other agent is named
• An action is filed for divorce, annulment or legal separation from an agent who is your spouse

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Oklahoma (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke a power of attorney or an agent's authority. The Act does not set a required method. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an earlier one unless the new one says so.

Telling others

Tell the agent and every bank or business that has a copy. An agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge that the power of attorney or the agent's authority has ended is protected.

Law: 58 O.S. § 3010; 58 O.S. § 3010(A)(3), (D), (F)

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 within 7 business days ask for an agent's certification, an English translation or a lawyer's opinion, and then accept it within 5 business days after receiving it, unless a legal reason to refuse applies (for example, a good-faith belief it is invalid, or a report to Adult Protective Services of suspected abuse or exploitation). A person may not demand a different form. Wrongful refusal can lead to a court order to accept it and liability for reasonable attorney fees and costs. A photocopy or electronically sent copy has the same effect as the original.

Law: 58 O.S. §§ 3019, 3020; 58 O.S. § 3006(D)

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside Oklahoma is valid in Oklahoma if, when signed, it complied with the law of the jurisdiction that governs its meaning (the one named in it, or where it was signed) or the federal military power of attorney rules.

Law: 58 O.S. §§ 3006(C), 3007

Health care directive in Oklahoma

The document and its form

Document

Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will and appointment of a Health Care Proxy)

Official form

Advance Directive for Health Care (63 O.S. § 3101.4(C))Published by Oklahoma Legislature. The State Department of Health advance directives page does not post the form.Version: Statutory text as amended through Laws 2006, c. 171

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Living Will (Part I of the Advance Directive for Health Care)

Part of the directive.

In the living will part you say whether you want life-sustaining treatment and tube feeding if you have a terminal condition, are persistently unconscious, or have an end-stage condition. If you are pregnant, life-sustaining treatment and nutrition are provided unless you specifically authorized otherwise in your own words.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.4(C)

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign the advance directive in front of two qualified adult witnesses. A notary is not required for the advance directive. A separate health care power of attorney under the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act may instead be signed in front of a notary public or two such witnesses.

Who signs

Signed by you (the declarant).

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

2

Who cannot witness

Two witnesses, each 18 or older, who are not your legatees, devisees or heirs at law. The statutory form adds that witnesses must not be related to you and must not inherit from you.

Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.4(A), (C), 3111.3(G)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Under a health care power of attorney, unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent may not be an owner, operator or employee of a residential long-term health care institution where you are receiving care.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3111.3(B)

When the agent starts

The advance directive becomes operative when it is given to your attending physician and you can no longer make decisions about life-sustaining treatment; the form uses a finding by your attending physician and another physician. A health care power of attorney takes effect, unless it says otherwise, when your attending physician determines you lack capacity, and stops when you recover.

Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.4(C), 3101.5; 63 O.S. § 3111.3(C), (D)

Decisions an agent cannot make

Tube feeding and fluids may be withheld or withdrawn only if the directive specifically authorizes it in the statutory form or in a separately initialed or signed part. A health care power of attorney under the Health Care Agent Act cannot authorize withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, nutrition or hydration (that must be done through the Advance Directive), but it can authorize the agent to sign a do-not-resuscitate consent.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.4(B); 63 O.S. §§ 3111.2(6), 3111.3(B)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke your advance directive, in whole or in part, at any time and in any manner, whatever your mental or physical condition. The revocation takes effect when you or a witness to it tells your attending physician or other health care provider. For a health care power of attorney, you can revoke the agent's designation by a signed writing or by telling your health care provider, in any manner that shows your intent.

Revoking your instructions

The same rule applies to the living will part.

Telling others

The physician or provider must make the revocation part of your medical record. A provider or agent told of a revocation of a health care power of attorney must promptly tell the attending physician and any facility where you are receiving care.

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Oklahoma (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

If more than one valid advance directive exists, the last one signed controls. A later health care power of attorney revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.5(B); 63 O.S. § 3111.4(D)

Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.6, 3111.4

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If you are persistently unconscious, incompetent or otherwise unable to communicate, a reasonably available and willing person in the highest class may make health care decisions; if those in a class disagree, the majority decides. Before deciding, the person must give the provider a signed statement that they have no disqualifying abuse, neglect or exploitation convictions, findings or charges.

1. General guardian of the person, or limited guardian with medical decision authority
2. Health care proxy or alternate proxy you named
3. Attorney-in-fact under the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act
4. Spouse
5. Adult children
6. Parents
7. Adult siblings
8. Other adult relatives in order of kinship
9. Close friends who kept regular contact and know your values (an affidavit is prima facie evidence)

Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3102.4, 3102.5

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

An advance directive signed in another state in compliance with that state's law or Oklahoma law is valid in Oklahoma to the extent Oklahoma law allows; it authorizes withholding tube feeding only if it says so specifically and either you were not an Oklahoma resident when you signed it or the authorization is in your own words or a separately marked part. A health care power of attorney in substantial compliance with the Health Care Agent Act is valid regardless of when or where it was signed.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.14; 63 O.S. § 3111.3(H)

Registry

Advance directives registry (63 O.S. § 3102.1); the State Department of Health page links a private registry service (MyDirectives) and does not endorse it

POLST (medical orders)

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), standardized form under the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Act

Mental health directive

An Advance Directive for Mental Health Treatment lets you give instructions and name an attorney-in-fact (18 or older) for mental health treatment. It must be signed by you and two capable witnesses 18 or older who attest that they know you and that you appeared capable and free of duress, and it must be notarized. Your attending physician or psychologist (or their employee) and an owner, operator or employee of a facility where you live or are treated may not serve as attorney-in-fact.

Law: 43A O.S. §§ 11-105, 11-106

Law: 63 O.S. § 3102.1; 63 O.S. §§ 3105.1-3105.5

Guardianship and conservatorship in Oklahoma

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

General guardian of the person and/or property; limited guardian (for a partially incapacitated person); special guardian

When a court may appoint one

The court must find by clear and convincing evidence that the person is incapacitated or partially incapacitated, decide the extent of the incapacity and whether less restrictive alternatives are feasible. It must dismiss the case if less restrictive alternatives are feasible and adequate; an appointment order must find by clear and convincing evidence that the person's needs require a guardianship instead. Guardianship is ordered only to the extent required by the person's actual limitations. 'Least restrictive alternative' includes supported decision making, technology, a representative payee, and a power of attorney for health care or finances.

Law: 30 O.S. §§ 3-111, 1-103; 30 O.S. § 1-111(13)

Kinds

• General guardian of the person
• Guardian of the property
• Limited guardian (partially incapacitated person)
• Special guardian (temporary)

Law: 30 O.S. §§ 1-101 et seq., 3-101 to 3-124

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

Any person interested in the welfare of a person believed to be incapacitated or partially incapacitated.

Law: 30 O.S. § 3-101(A)

Court

District court.

Law: 30 O.S. §§ 1-113, 1-115

Choosing your own

Any adult of sound mind may nominate a guardian of their person, property or both, and alternates, in a signed writing; the most recent nomination controls and binds the court unless the nominee is disqualified. A power of attorney may also nominate a guardian; the court follows your most recent nomination except for good cause or disqualification.

Law: 30 O.S. § 3-102; 58 O.S. § 3008(A)

Effect on a power of attorney

If a court appoints a guardian of your estate or another fiduciary for some or all of your property, the agent is accountable to that fiduciary as well as to you; the power of attorney continues unless the court limits, suspends or ends it.

Law: 58 O.S. § 3008(B)

Other options and where to report abuse

Less restrictive options

• Least restrictive alternatives listed in the guardianship law: Supported decision making, appropriate technological assistance, a representative payee, and naming an agent under a power of attorney for health care or finances.
• Power of attorney and health care documents: Agents and proxies you name can act without a court case.
• Limited guardianship: For a partially incapacitated person, the court gives the guardian only the powers needed.

Report abuse or exploitation

Oklahoma Human Services, Adult Protective Services (Abuse and Neglect Hotline) · 1-800-522-3511

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

Good to know in Oklahoma

• Oklahoma has two health care documents: the Advance Directive for Health Care (living will and health care proxy, 2 witnesses) and, since April 29, 2022, a separate health care power of attorney (notary or 2 witnesses) for medical decisions other than withholding life-sustaining treatment, nutrition or hydration.

  Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.4, 3111.3

• Witnesses to an advance directive may not be your legatees, devisees or heirs at law.

  Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.4(A)

• Before acting as a default decision-maker, a family member or friend must sign a statement that they have no disqualifying abuse, neglect or exploitation record.

  Law: 63 O.S. § 3102.4(B)

• A new Uniform Health Care Decisions Act replaces Oklahoma's advance directive, health care power of attorney and surrogate laws on July 1, 2027.

  Law: HB 1687, 2026; HB 1687, § 35

Changes in 2024–2026

Health care power of attorney signing rule amended by Laws 2023, c. 154 (emerg. eff. May 1, 2023). HB 1687 (2026), approved by the Governor May 11, 2026, creates the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act of 2026 effective July 1, 2027; on that date it repeals the Oklahoma Advance Directive Act, the surrogate list in §§ 3102.4-3102.5 and the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act and replaces them with new rules, a new optional form and a new default-surrogate list. Until then the current rules on this page apply.

Law: 63 O.S. § 3111.3; 63 O.S. §§ 3101.1-3101.16; §§ 3111.1-3111.13

Questions about powers of attorney in Oklahoma