Mississippi: Power of Attorney Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Mississippi's financial-POA statute is the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney
Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 87-3-101 to 87-3-113, enacted by Laws 1994, ch. 336 and
cited by its own short-title section as "the 'Uniform Durable Power of Attorney
Act'" (§ 87-3-101). This is the 1979 National Conference of Commissioners
model act, not the newer Uniform Power of Attorney Act that most other states
have since adopted; bills to replace it with the modern act have been
introduced repeatedly (2018, 2019, and again in 2026) and have died in
committee every time. A second, older set of general provisions on the
execution, form, and recording of any letter of attorney sits at §§ 87-3-1 to
87-3-17. Healthcare powers of attorney are governed by a separate statute, the
Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, and are outside this survey's scope.

Who must sign

The Act does not prescribe who signs or how. The only formality requirement in
the whole chapter is that "a letter of attorney to transact any business need
only express plainly the authority conferred" (§ 87-3-7(1)) — a low bar
focused on clarity of the grant, not on signature mechanics.

Notarization

Not required by statute. Section 87-3-1 makes acknowledgment or proof
permissive, not mandatory, and likewise says the acknowledged or proved
document may be recorded like a land conveyance. Those steps matter when the
recording and conveyancing effects described in §§ 87-3-1 and 87-3-3 are
wanted; they are not conditions of basic validity in these provisions.

Durable by default?

No. Section 87-3-105 defines a durable power of attorney as a written
designation containing either of the statute's two durability phrases or
similar words showing that the authority remains exercisable despite the
principal's later disability or incapacity. Without that language, the writing
does not qualify as durable under the section.

Springing POA allowed?

Yes, but only through the durability definition itself, not a separate
provision. Section 87-3-105 treats "This power of attorney shall become
effective upon the disability or incapacity of the principal" as one of the
two alternative phrasings that qualifies a POA as durable — so the same
sentence that grants durability can also delay the agent's authority until
incapacity. The Act does not otherwise let a POA become effective at an
arbitrary future date or on some other future event; the only recognized
trigger is the principal's disability or incapacity, and the Act does not
specify how that incapacity is determined (compare states with a
physician-certification mechanism written into their statute).

Real estate extras

Section 87-3-1 permits a letter of attorney to be acknowledged or proved and
recorded in the same manner as a land conveyance. Section 87-3-3 then gives a
duly acknowledged or proved conveyance executed by the attorney-in-fact the
same force and effect as if the principal had executed and acknowledged it;
when the recorded power is being used, the conveyance passes the principal's
interest even if it was not formally executed in the principal's name.

What trips people up

• No default durability. Because § 87-3-105 requires specific language,
  a plain power of attorney without the statutory phrases or similar words does
  not qualify as durable under that section.
• Some guides wrongly describe Mississippi as a modern-UPOAA state.
  Several bar-association and legal-form websites state that Mississippi
  requires notarization or has adopted the 2006 Uniform Power of Attorney Act.
  Neither is accurate under the current statute; bills to adopt that act have
  died in committee every time they've been introduced, most recently in 2026.
• Acknowledgment changes what can be recorded and proved. Sections 87-3-1
  and 87-3-3 make acknowledgment or proof and recording available for a power
  used with a land conveyance; they do not make those steps part of every
  financial power of attorney's basic execution.
• No statutory list of "hot powers." Because the Act does not enumerate
  powers that need express authorization (unlike modern-UPOAA states), any
  authority you want your agent to have — gifting, trust changes, and the
  like — should be spelled out plainly in the document itself.

Common questions

Do I need to notarize my Mississippi power of attorney? Not for basic
validity under the surveyed provisions. Section 87-3-1 makes acknowledgment or
proof optional and permits a document completed that way to be recorded like a
land conveyance.

Is my Mississippi power of attorney durable automatically? No. It qualifies
as durable under § 87-3-105 only if it contains one of the statutory phrases or
similar words showing that intent.

Can I make my power of attorney effective only if I become incapacitated?
Yes — use the alternative statutory phrase in § 87-3-105 ("shall become
effective upon the disability or incapacity of the principal"). The Act does
not specify a certification mechanism for determining incapacity, so it's
worth addressing in the document itself.

Will my out-of-state power of attorney work in Mississippi? Mississippi's
statute doesn't say either way; it has no rule like the one many other states
have adopted.

Statutes and sources

All quotations are from the release-78 transformation of the Official Code of
Mississippi Annotated, Title 87. The section histories were checked against
2025-2026 legislation on 2026-08-24.

• Miss. Code § 87-3-101 — "Sections 87-3-101 through 87-3-113 may be cited
  as the 'Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act.'"
  Official Code release
• Miss. Code § 87-3-105 — "A durable power of attorney is a power of
  attorney by which a principal designates another his attorney in fact in
  writing and the writing contains the words 'This power of attorney shall not
  be affected by subsequent disability or incapacity of the principal, or
  lapse of time,' or 'This power of attorney shall become effective upon the
  disability or incapacity of the principal,' or similar words showing the
  intent of the principal that the authority conferred shall be exercisable
  notwithstanding the principal's subsequent disability or incapacity, and,
  unless it states a time of termination, notwithstanding the lapse of time
  since the execution of the instrument."
  Official Code release
• Miss. Code § 87-3-1 — "All letters of attorney intended to be used in
  this state may be acknowledged or proved as conveyances of land are required
  to be, and, when so acknowledged or proved, may be recorded in like manner;
  and copies thereof, duly certified, shall be admitted in evidence, without
  accounting for the nonproduction of the original."
  Official Code release
• Miss. Code § 87-3-3 — "Conveyances of land, or contracts relating
  thereto, executed by an attorney in fact for his principal, and duly
  acknowledged or proved, shall have the same force and effect as if executed
  and acknowledged by the principal; and where a conveyance by an attorney is
  in execution of letters of attorney, so acknowledged or proved and recorded,
  it shall pass the interest of the principal though not formally executed in
  his name."
  Official Code release
• Miss. Code § 87-3-7 — "(1) A letter of attorney to transact any business
  need only express plainly the authority conferred."
  Official Code release