Maine: Power of Attorney Requirements

The short answer

Maine enacted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA), codified at 18-C
M.R.S. Article 5, Part 9. Under § 5-905(1), a power of attorney (POA) "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," and it
"is not valid unless it is acknowledged before a notary public or other
individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments." Unlike the model
UPOAA's default rule in many other states, Maine treats notarization as a
condition of validity, not just a way to earn a presumption of genuineness.

No witnesses are required. The POA is durable by default — it survives your
later incapacity — unless it expressly says otherwise (§ 5-904), but a
durable POA also must contain statutory notices to the principal and the
agent or it is not valid (§ 5-905(2)). Maine never published a general
fill-in-the-blank financial POA form, so most documents are drafted from
scratch rather than filled into a state template.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Financial powers of attorney are governed by the Maine Uniform Power of
Attorney Act, 18-C M.R.S. §§ 5-901 to 5-964: "This Part may be known and cited
as 'the Maine Uniform Power of Attorney Act'" (§ 5-901). Maine enacted the
Act in 2017 and it follows the national Uniform Power of Attorney Act
framework, later recodified into Title 18-C. Health care powers of attorney
and advance directives are addressed elsewhere in the probate code and are
outside this survey.

Who must sign

The principal signs. If the principal cannot sign personally, another
individual may sign the principal's name instead, but only "in the
principal's conscious presence" and "directed by the principal" to do so
(§ 5-905(1)). "Conscious presence" is Maine's chosen standard — the
principal must be aware and present when the substitute signature happens.

Notarization

Mandatory. Section 5-905(1) does double duty: a notarized signature "is
presumed to be genuine," but the same subsection then makes acknowledgment a
flat condition of validity — "a power of attorney under this Part is not
valid unless it is acknowledged before a notary public or other individual
authorized by law to take acknowledgments." There is no witness alternative;
skip the notary and the document has no legal effect at all.

Witnesses

None required. Part 9 imposes signature and notarization requirements in
§ 5-905 but no subscribing-witness rule anywhere in the execution provisions.

Statutory form

No general POA form exists. Maine's Part 9 publishes only one statutory
form — the Agent's Certification at § 5-951, "an optional form ... used by an
agent to certify facts concerning a power of attorney," such as that the
principal is still alive and the POA has not been revoked. That form proves
an already-existing POA's ongoing validity to a bank or other third party; it
is not a template for creating the POA itself. A Maine financial POA is
therefore drafted from scratch to grant whatever powers the principal
chooses.

Durable by default?

Yes. Under § 5-904, "a power of attorney created under this Part is durable
unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the
principal" — the reverse of the older common-law default. But durability
comes with a string attached: § 5-905(2) requires a durable POA to contain
statutory notices addressed to the principal and to the agent, "substantially
in the following form," and the POA "is not valid" without them.

Springing POA allowed?

Yes. A POA "is effective when executed unless the principal provides ... that
it becomes effective at a future date or upon the occurrence of a future
event or contingency" (§ 5-909(1)). The principal may name one or more people
to determine in writing that the event occurred (§ 5-909(2)). If the trigger
is the principal's incapacity and no one was named — or the named person is
unwilling or unable — a physician, or an attorney, judge, or appropriate
government official, makes that determination instead (§ 5-909(3)).

Real estate extras

Maine imposes no extra signing step for a POA used with real estate, but it
does treat the POA itself as a recordable conveyancing instrument. Before any
deed or other instrument goes on record, it "must be acknowledged by the
grantors, or by the persons executing any such written instruments ...
before a notary public" or other authorized official (33 M.R.S. § 203).
Section 353-A confirms this covers powers of attorney specifically: it
lists "a deed or other instrument, including a power of attorney" among the
conveyance documents its curative rules apply to, and its subsection on
missing authorization presumes the ordinary practice is that "a power of
attorney authorizing and empowering an agent or attorney to make the
conveyance" normally "appears of record" in the registry of deeds.

Out-of-state POAs

Yes. A POA "executed other than in this State is valid in this State" if its
execution complied with the law of the jurisdiction indicated in the
document, or — if none is indicated — the law of the state where it was
signed (§ 5-906(4), § 5-907), or with the federal military power-of-attorney
statute, 10 U.S.C. § 1044b.

What trips people up

• Notarization is not optional in Maine. Some UPOAA states let witnesses
  substitute for a notary. Maine does not — § 5-905(1) makes acknowledgment a
  validity requirement, full stop.
• A durable POA needs the statutory notices, or it doesn't count as
  durable. Section 5-905(2) requires notices to the principal and the agent
  "substantially" in the statutory wording; leave them out and the durable POA
  is not valid, even if everything else is done right.
• There's no state form to copy. Because Maine never published a general
  statutory POA form, a document copied from another state's fill-in template
  may not track Maine's notice-and-acknowledgment requirements. Draft to
  Maine's statute directly.
• Real estate deals expect the POA on record, not just the deed. Title
  examiners in Maine look for the power of attorney itself in the registry of
  deeds alongside the deed it authorized; recording only the deed can create a
  gap in the chain of title.

Common questions

Do I need a notary for a Maine power of attorney? Yes. Under § 5-905(1),
acknowledgment before a notary public or other authorized official is a
condition of validity, not an optional extra.

Does my POA need witnesses too? No. Maine's Act requires signature and
notarization but no witnesses.

Is my power of attorney automatically durable? Yes, unless it says
otherwise (§ 5-904) — but only if it also carries the statutory notices to
the principal and agent required for durable POAs (§ 5-905(2)).

Will my out-of-state power of attorney work in Maine? Yes, if it was
validly executed under the law of the state named in the document or, absent
that, the state where it was signed (§ 5-906(4), § 5-907).

Statutes and sources

All quotations are from the official Maine Legislature statutes site,
accessed 2026-07-04.

• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-901 — "This Part may be known and cited as 'the Maine
  Uniform Power of Attorney Act.'"
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-904 — "A power of attorney created under this Part is
  durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the
  incapacity of the principal."
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-905 — "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 power of attorney under this Part is not valid unless it is
  acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized by law
  to take acknowledgments."
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-906 — "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: A. The law of the jurisdiction that
  determines the meaning and effect of the power of attorney pursuant to
  section 5-907; or B. The requirements for a military power of attorney
  pursuant to 10 United States Code, Section 1044b."
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-907 — "The meaning and effect of a power of attorney
  are 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 (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-909 — "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 (legislature.maine.gov)
• 18-C M.R.S. § 5-951 — "The following optional form may be used by an
  agent to certify facts concerning a power of attorney."
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 33 M.R.S. § 203 — "Deeds and all other written instruments before
  recording in the registries of deeds ... must be acknowledged by the
  grantors, or by the persons executing any such written instruments ...
  before a notary public in the State."
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)
• 33 M.R.S. § 353-A — "A deed or other instrument, including a power of
  attorney, whenever made for the conveyance of real property ... is valid
  even if no power of attorney authorizing and empowering an agent or
  attorney to make the conveyance or execute and deliver the deed or
  instrument appears of record" (curative rule after 20 years of recording,
  confirming the ordinary expectation that the POA itself is recorded).
  View official text (legislature.maine.gov)