Alabama: Power of Attorney Requirements

The short answer

Alabama adopted its own version of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA)
in 2011, effective January 1, 2012, and codified at Title 26, Chapter 1A. It
applies to powers of attorney executed on or after that date (§ 26-1A-103(a)).
Execution is light: the principal signs, or another adult signs the
principal's name in the principal's conscious presence and at the principal's
direction (§ 26-1A-105). Nothing in the Act requires witnesses.

Notarization is not required for the document to be valid, but it has real
practical weight: acknowledging the signature before a notary public (or
another individual authorized to take acknowledgments) makes the signature
presumed genuine, and a notarized acknowledgment is what lets the document be
recorded like a deed when it is used to convey real property (§ 35-4-28). The
Act makes durability the default — you have to opt out of it, not into it.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Financial powers of attorney are governed by the Alabama Uniform Power of
Attorney Act, Ala. Code §§ 26-1A-101 to 26-1A-404 (Title 26, Chapter 1A):
"This chapter may be cited as the Alabama Uniform Power of Attorney Act"
(§ 26-1A-101). It is based on the national UPOAA and applies "to all powers of
attorney, executed on or after January 1, 2012" (§ 26-1A-103(a)), with limited
exceptions such as powers coupled with a creditor's interest and government
forms. Powers of attorney executed before that date remain governed by prior
Alabama law.

Who must sign

The principal signs, or — if unable to — "in the principal's conscious
presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign the
principal's name on the power of attorney" (§ 26-1A-105). "Conscious presence"
is a somewhat higher bar than simple physical presence: the principal must be
aware the signing is happening.

Notarization

Not required for basic validity. Section 26-1A-105 provides only that "a
signature on a power of attorney is presumed to be genuine if the principal
acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other individual
authorized by law to take acknowledgments." That presumption matters in
practice — banks and other institutions routinely expect it — and it becomes
essential if the power of attorney will be used to convey real estate, since
Alabama's conveyancing law lets a power of attorney be "proved or acknowledged
and recorded in the same manner" as the conveyance itself only once it has
gone through that acknowledgment process (§ 35-4-28).

Witnesses

None. Section 26-1A-105 sets out only the signature and notary-acknowledgment
rules; it does not require any witnesses, and no other section of the Act
adds a witness requirement for a financial power of attorney.

Statutory form

Yes. Alabama publishes an optional fill-in form: "A document substantially in
the following form may be used to create a power of attorney that has the
meaning and effect prescribed by this chapter" (§ 26-1A-301). The Act also
provides a companion "Agent's Certification" form at § 26-1A-302 that an
agent can give a third party to certify facts about the power of attorney's
validity. Neither form is mandatory — any document that satisfies § 26-1A-105
works.

Durable by default?

Yes. Under § 26-1A-104, a power of attorney covered by the Act "is durable,
unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the
principal." You do not need special wording to make the document durable; you
need special wording to make it stop working at incapacity.

Springing POA allowed?

Yes. A power of attorney "is effective when executed unless the principal
provides in the power of attorney that it becomes effective at a future date
or upon the occurrence of a future event or contingency" (§ 26-1A-109(a)). If
the trigger is the principal's incapacity and no one is named to determine it,
the determination is made by "a physician or licensed psychologist" for a
medical incapacity, or by "an attorney-at-law, a judge, or an appropriate
governmental official" for the missing-person, detained, or out-of-country
forms of incapacity the Act defines (§ 26-1A-109(c)).

Real estate extras

Alabama's general conveyancing statute, not the power of attorney Act itself,
governs recording. Section 35-4-28 provides that "powers of attorney or other
instruments conferring authority to convey property or to enter satisfaction
of mortgages or other liens may be proved or acknowledged and recorded in the
same manner and must be received as evidence to the same extent as
conveyances." In practice, that means the document has to go through the same
acknowledgment (notarization) process as a deed before it can be recorded in
the probate office of the county where the property sits.

Out-of-state POAs

Yes, with conditions. A power of attorney executed outside Alabama is valid
here if its execution complied with "the law of the jurisdiction that
determines the meaning and effect of the power of attorney" under § 26-1A-107,
with the federal military power of attorney statute, or simply with Alabama
law (§ 26-1A-106(c)). Section 26-1A-107 in turn says meaning and effect is
"determined by the law of the jurisdiction indicated in the power of attorney
and, in the absence of an indication of jurisdiction, by the law of the
jurisdiction in which the power of attorney was executed."

What trips people up

• Skipping the notary because it's "not required." True for basic
  validity, but a bank, title company, or the probate office recording a real
  estate transaction will typically insist on an acknowledged signature
  anyway — and § 35-4-28 makes that acknowledgment a precondition for
  recording a real-estate power of attorney.
• "Conscious presence" is not the same as physical presence. If someone
  else signs your name for you, you must actually be aware the signing is
  taking place at that moment (§ 26-1A-105).
• No witnesses does not mean no formality. People sometimes assume a
  witness-free state means any signed paper works; the signature and
  (functionally) the notarization still have to meet the statute.
• Durable is automatic — silence keeps it working. Because § 26-1A-104
  makes durability the default, a document that says nothing about incapacity
  still survives it. If you actually want the power of attorney to end at
  incapacity, you must say so expressly.

Common questions

Do I need to notarize my Alabama power of attorney? Not for basic
validity under § 26-1A-105, but it is strongly recommended: notarization
creates a legal presumption the signature is genuine, and it is required in
practice before the document can be recorded for a real estate transaction
under § 35-4-28.

Does Alabama require witnesses for a power of attorney? No. The Act
imposes no witness requirement at all (§ 26-1A-105).

Is my Alabama power of attorney automatically durable? Yes. Under
§ 26-1A-104, it survives your later incapacity unless the document expressly
says it terminates at incapacity.

Will my out-of-state power of attorney work in Alabama? Generally yes, if
its execution complied with the law of the state named in the document (or
the state where it was executed if none is named), with Alabama law, or with
federal military power of attorney law (§§ 26-1A-106(c), 26-1A-107).

Statutes and sources

Quotations for §§ 26-1A-101, 103-107, and 109 are from the official enrolled
Act 2011-683 (S.778/SB53, 2011 Regular Session) as published on the Alabama
Legislature's website; the rendered Code of Alabama viewer at
alison.legislature.state.al.us is a JavaScript application that will not
serve section text on a direct fetch, so the enacted-act PDF was used and
cross-checked word-for-word against the Justia mirror of the 2025 Code of
Alabama. Section 26-1A-301 is quoted from Justia; § 35-4-28 from a National
Notary Association official state-law-summary PDF, both accessed 2026-07-04.

• Ala. Code § 26-1A-101 — "This chapter may be cited as the Alabama
  Uniform Power of Attorney Act."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-103 — "This chapter applies to all powers of
  attorney, executed on or after January 1, 2012, except: (1) a power to the
  extent it is coupled with an interest in the subject of the power ...."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-104 — "A power of attorney to which this chapter
  applies is durable, unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by
  the incapacity of the principal."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-105 — "A power of attorney must be signed by the
  principal or in the principal's conscious presence by another individual
  directed by the principal to sign the principal's name on the power of
  attorney. A signature on a power of attorney is presumed to be genuine if
  the principal acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other
  individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-106 — "A power of attorney executed other than in
  this state is valid in this state if, when the power of attorney was
  executed, the execution complied with: (1) the law of the jurisdiction that
  determines the meaning and effect of the power of attorney pursuant to
  Section 26-1A-107; (2) the requirements for a military power of attorney
  pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section 1044b, as amended; or (3) Alabama law."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-107 — "The meaning and effect of a power of attorney
  is determined by the law of the jurisdiction indicated in the power of
  attorney and, in the absence of an indication of jurisdiction, by the law
  of the jurisdiction in which the power of attorney was executed."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-109 — "A power of attorney is effective when executed
  unless the principal provides in the power of attorney that it becomes
  effective at a future date or upon the occurrence of a future event or
  contingency."
  View official text (alison.legislature.state.al.us)
• Ala. Code § 26-1A-301 — "A document substantially in the following form
  may be used to create a power of attorney that has the meaning and effect
  prescribed by this chapter."
  View source text (law.justia.com)
• Ala. Code § 35-4-28 — "Powers of attorney or other instruments
  conferring authority to convey property or to enter satisfaction of
  mortgages or other liens may be proved or acknowledged and recorded in the
  same manner and must be received as evidence to the same extent as
  conveyances."
  View source text (nationalnotary.org)