Power of Attorney Requirements in Mississippi

At a glance

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