Power of Attorney Requirements in Colorado

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Colorado calls Title 15, Article 14, Part 7 the "Uniform Power of Attorney Act" (§ 15-14-701). For a Colorado document signed on or after January 1, 2010, § 15-14-706(1) directs the validity inquiry to the execution rule in § 15-14-705.

Who must sign

The principal signs, or directs another individual to sign the principal's name in the principal's "conscious presence" (§ 15-14-705). The statute does not require that substitute signer to be an agent or a particular relative.

Notarization

The second sentence of § 15-14-705 gives an acknowledged signature a presumption of genuineness. It says: "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." Acknowledgment is a useful evidentiary step, not a validity condition under § 15-14-706(1).

Witnesses

Section 15-14-705 states the execution requirement in full: a signature by the principal or a directed signer in conscious presence, followed by the optional acknowledgment rule. It contains no witness requirement.

Statutory form

Section 15-14-741 begins: "A document substantially in the following form may be used to create a statutory form power of attorney"; the section then prints Colorado's form. "May be used" makes the form optional.

Durable by default?

For a power created on or after January 1, 2010, § 15-14-704(1) says it "is durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal." The rule for older documents differs; see the first common question below.

Springing POA allowed?

Section 15-14-709(1) allows the principal to choose a "future date" or a "future event or contingency" instead of immediate effect. The principal may name someone to record that the event occurred. For an incapacity trigger without a willing named determiner, subsection (3) permits a physician or licensed psychologist for one type of incapacity, or an attorney, judge, or appropriate government official for the other type described there.

Real estate extras

The general property statute, § 38-35-109(1), expressly includes "powers of attorney" among written instruments affecting title that "may be recorded" with the clerk and recorder in the county where the property lies. Its priority rule matters when a competing property interest is filed; see the recording point below.

Out-of-state POAs

Section 15-14-706(3) recognizes an out-of-state document if its execution complied with the law of the jurisdiction that determines its meaning and effect. Under § 15-14-707, that is the jurisdiction named in the document, or, if none is named, the jurisdiction where it was executed. Subsection 706(3) also names the federal military power of attorney rule.

What trips people up

• Recording and notice. An unrecorded power of attorney affecting title can lose priority to a person who first records a competing right. The statute expressly excepts disputes between the parties and a person who had notice of the earlier instrument before acquiring rights; merely recording first does not erase those exceptions (§ 38-35-109(1)).
• Assuming the state form is compulsory. The statutory form is a permitted template under § 15-14-741. A different document can satisfy the signature rule in § 15-14-705.

Common questions

Will a Colorado power of attorney signed before 2010 still count? Section 15-14-706(2) tests its execution under Colorado law at the time it was signed. For durability, § 15-14-704(2) separately looks to whether it was durable on December 31, 2009 under the earlier law.

Can I use a scan or photocopy? Generally yes: § 15-14-706(4) gives a photocopy or electronically transmitted copy the original's effect unless another statute says otherwise. A third party may still ask to see the original.

Statutes and sources

The quoted statutory text is from the Colorado General Assembly's Office of Legislative Legal Services, Colorado Revised Statutes 2026, Title 15 and Title 38, accessed 2026-10-06. The HTML and PDF printouts contain the same operative sections.

• § 15-14-701: This part 7 may be cited as the "Uniform Power of Attorney Act".
• § 15-14-704: "A power of attorney created on and after January 1, 2010, is durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal."
• § 15-14-705: "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."
• § 15-14-706: "A power of attorney executed in this state on or after January 1, 2010, is valid if its execution complies with section 15-14-705."
• § 15-14-707: "The meaning and effect of a power of attorney is determined by the law of the jurisdiction indicated in the power of attorney"; the section supplies a fallback if the document does not indicate one.
• § 15-14-709: "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."
• § 15-14-741: "A document substantially in the following form may be used to create a statutory form power of attorney that has the meaning and effect prescribed by this part 7."
• § 38-35-109: "This is a race-notice recording statute." Its subsection (1) also gives the prior-notice and between-parties exceptions described above.