South Carolina: Power of Attorney Requirements

The short answer

South Carolina adopted its own version of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act
(UPOAA) in 2016, effective January 1, 2017, codified at Title 62, Article 8.
Execution has three required elements, not a menu of alternatives: the
principal's signature, two witnesses attesting with "the same formality" South
Carolina requires for a will, and acknowledgment or proof under the state's
general deed-acknowledgment statute (§ 62-8-105).

Two things set South Carolina apart from most other UPOAA states. First, a
notary (or another qualifying officer) is not an alternative to witnesses —
both are required. Second, the power of attorney does nothing for an
incapacitated principal until it has been recorded like a deed in the
principal's home county; recording here is not just a real-estate formality,
it is a precondition for the agent to exercise any authority at all once the
principal loses capacity (§ 62-8-109(c)).

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Financial powers of attorney are governed by the South Carolina Uniform Power
of Attorney Act, S.C. Code §§ 62-8-101 to 62-8-403 (Title 62, Article 8):
"This article may be cited as the 'South Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney
Act'" (§ 62-8-101). The Act is based on the national UPOAA but is not a
complete adoption — most notably, the legislature left out the UPOAA's
optional statutory form.

Who must sign

The principal signs, or — if unable to — "in the principal's presence by
another individual directed by the principal to sign the principal's name on
the power of attorney" (§ 62-8-105(1)).

Notarization

Notarization is not an alternative path here; it is required alongside
witnessing. Section 62-8-105(3) requires the document be "acknowledged or
proved pursuant to Section 30-5-30" — South Carolina's general statute
governing when a deed or other instrument can be recorded. Under § 30-5-30,
that means either acknowledgment before a notary public or other qualifying
officer, or proof of the signing through a subscribing witness's affidavit
taken before such an officer. Either route satisfies § 62-8-105(3), but some
form of official acknowledgment or proof is mandatory — it is not merely a
presumption-of-genuineness option like the UPOAA's usual § 105 pattern.

Witnesses

Two witnesses are required, and they must attest "with the same formality and
with the same requirements as to witnesses as a will in South Carolina"
(§ 62-8-105(2)). South Carolina's will-execution statute requires the will (and
by cross-reference, the power of attorney) to be "signed by at least two
individuals each of whom witnessed either the signing or the testator's
acknowledgment of the signature" (§ 62-2-502). Article 8 does not add its own
witness disqualification (for example, barring the agent from witnessing);
none is stated in the power of attorney statute itself.

Statutory form

No. Although South Carolina's Act generally tracks the UPOAA, the legislature
did not adopt the UPOAA's optional statutory form, so there is no
principal-facing fill-in form. The Act does provide an optional "Agent's
Certification" that an agent can give a bank or other third party to certify
facts about the power of attorney's validity and the agent's authority
(§ 62-8-119(f)).

Durable by default?

Yes. Under § 62-8-104, a power of attorney "is durable unless it expressly
provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal." Unlike
states that require special wording to make a document durable, South
Carolina flips the default: you have to opt out of durability, not into it.

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" (§ 62-8-109(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 "attorney at law, court of competent jurisdiction, or
an appropriate governmental official" for the missing-person, detained, or
out-of-country forms of incapacity the Act defines (§ 62-8-109(a)(2)).

Real estate extras

South Carolina's recording rule reaches further than real estate. Section
62-8-109(c) provides that "after the principal's incapacity, an agent may
exercise the authority granted unto the agent under the power of attorney only
if the power of attorney has been recorded in the same manner as a deed in the
county where the principal resides." If the principal lives out of state, it
can instead be recorded "in any county where property of the principal is
located." Critically, this applies to any use of the agent's authority after
incapacity — banking, taxes, benefits, anything — not only to real estate
transactions. The statute allows recording either before or after the
principal becomes incapacitated, but "after the principal's incapacity and
before recordation, the agent's authority cannot be exercised."

Out-of-state POAs

Yes, with conditions. A power of attorney executed outside South Carolina 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 § 62-8-107,
or with the federal military power of attorney statute (§ 62-8-106(c)). Section
62-8-107 in turn says that 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

• Notary or witnesses is not a choice here. Many UPOAA states let you pick
  one or the other. South Carolina requires two witnesses under will-execution
  formality AND acknowledgment or proof under § 30-5-30 — skip either and the
  document is not properly executed under § 62-8-105.
• Durable is automatic, but useless if incapacity hits before recording.
  Because § 62-8-104 makes a power of attorney durable by default, people
  assume it will simply keep working. It won't, in practice, unless it has
  already been recorded like a deed in the right county by the time the agent
  needs to act (§ 62-8-109(c)). Recording before incapacity, not after, avoids
  the gap.
• The recording requirement is not just for real estate. It's easy to
  assume county recording only matters if a house is involved. In South
  Carolina it gates every post-incapacity use of the document.
• No fill-in state form. South Carolina did not adopt the UPOAA's optional
  statutory form, so there is nothing to download from the state; any
  properly executed document works, but you will need one drafted or reviewed
  rather than a state-provided template.

Common questions

Do I need both a notary and witnesses in South Carolina? Yes. Section
62-8-105 requires two witnesses under will-execution formality and separate
acknowledgment or proof under § 30-5-30 — both, not either.

If my power of attorney is durable, why would my agent be unable to use
it? Durability under § 62-8-104 means the document survives your
incapacity legally, but § 62-8-109(c) still blocks your agent from exercising
authority after you become incapacitated until the document is recorded like
a deed in your county of residence. Recording it while you still have capacity
avoids any gap.

Does South Carolina provide an official power of attorney form? No fill-in
form for the principal. The only form in the Act is an optional Agent's
Certification (§ 62-8-119(f)) that an agent can use to certify facts to a
third party such as a bank.

Will my power of attorney from another state work in South Carolina?
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
(§§ 62-8-106(c), 62-8-107). If you become incapacitated, South Carolina's
recording precondition in § 62-8-109(c) still applies before your agent can
act here.

Statutes and sources

All quotations are from the official South Carolina Legislature website
(scstatehouse.gov) except §§ 62-2-502 and 30-5-30, cross-checked against the
Justia mirror of the current Code, accessed 2026-07-04.

• S.C. Code § 62-8-101 — "This article may be cited as the 'South
  Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act'."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-104 — "A power of attorney created pursuant to this
  part after the effective date is durable unless it expressly provides that
  it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-105 — "A power of attorney must be: (1) signed by the
  principal or in the principal's presence by another individual directed by
  the principal to sign the principal's name on the power of attorney; (2)
  attested with the same formality and with the same requirements as to
  witnesses as a will in South Carolina; and (3) acknowledged or proved
  pursuant to Section 30-5-30."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-106 — "A power of attorney executed other than in this
  State that is not otherwise valid under subsection (a) or (b) is valid in
  this State if, when the power of attorney was executed, the execution
  complied with the: (1) law of the jurisdiction that determines the meaning
  and effect of the power of attorney pursuant to Section 62-8-107; or (2)
  requirements for a military power of attorney pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section
  1044b, as amended."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-107 — "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 (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-109 — "After the principal's incapacity, an agent may
  exercise the authority granted unto the agent under the power of attorney
  only if the power of attorney has been recorded in the same manner as a
  deed in the county where the principal resides at the time the instrument
  is recorded. ... After the principal's incapacity and before recordation,
  the agent's authority cannot be exercised."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-8-119 — "The following optional form may be used by an
  agent to certify facts concerning a power of attorney: AGENT'S CERTIFICATION
  AS TO THE VALIDITY OF POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AGENT'S AUTHORITY."
  View official text (scstatehouse.gov)
• S.C. Code § 62-2-502 — "[E]very will shall be: (1) in writing; (2)
  signed by the testator or signed in the testator's name by some other
  individual in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction; and
  (3) signed by at least two individuals each of whom witnessed either the
  signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will."
  View source text (law.justia.com)
• S.C. Code § 30-5-30 — "[B]efore any deed or other instrument in writing
  can be recorded in this State, it must be acknowledged or proved by the
  method described in subsection (A)(1), (A)(2), or (B)," including proof by
  a subscribing witness's affidavit before a qualifying officer, or
  acknowledgment by the signer in the presence of two witnesses before a
  qualifying officer.
  View source text (law.justia.com)