Power of Attorney Acceptance and Refusal Rules in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Qualifying form and presentation

The refusal-liability rule covers a power executed in conformity with Minnesota’s statutory short form, or an authorized alternative military form, for authority the agent has been granted (Minn. Stat. § 523.20). The military form is one the commissioner of military affairs may prepare under § 523.231. A different form may have other remedies, but § 523.20 says this specific provision does not displace them.

To bring a refusal within § 523.20, the document must include the agent’s specimen signature. A power executed on or after January 1, 2014 must also include the agent’s acknowledgment of reading and understanding the statutory notice. A recordable real-property instrument must be accompanied by affidavits satisfying § 523.17; other transactions call for a signature conforming to § 523.18. Where § 523.16 applies, an affidavit and any other required document must accompany the power. Section 523.18 allows signature wording such as “attorney-in-fact for (Name of the principal)” or “(Name of the principal) by (Name of the attorney-in-fact) the principal's attorney-in-fact”.

What trips people up

Section 523.16 addresses an agent whose authority depends on a prior named agent’s death, incompetency or resignation; the agent’s affidavit states that the condition occurred. These papers are statutory conditions for the refusal-liability rule, not a separate request-and-response procedure (§§ 523.16, 523.20).

The statutory exceptions turn on actual notice of revocation, an expired duration stated in the power, actual knowledge of the principal’s death, or, for a nondurable power, actual notice of a judicial incompetency determination (§ 523.20). The section imposes liability in the same manner as a refusal to deal with the principal directly; it does not prescribe a number of days to respond, a written rejection, an acceptance order, or a particular fee award.

Common questions

Does the refusal rule apply to any home-drafted power? Section 523.20 ties this particular liability to a power conforming to § 523.23 or a form prepared under § 523.231. Its final sentence preserves possible liability under another form, common law or otherwise.

Is an agent’s specimen signature optional? No. It is an express condition in § 523.20(2).

Statutes and sources

The quoted provisions below are from the Minnesota Revisor’s current official statute pages, accessed October 4, 2026.

Minn. Stat. § 523.16. “If the attorney-in-fact exercising a power pursuant to a power of attorney has authority to act as a result of the death, incompetency, or resignation of one or more attorneys-in-fact named in the power of attorney, an affidavit executed by the attorney-in-fact setting forth the conditions precedent to the attorney-in-fact's authority to act under the power of attorney and stating that those conditions have occurred is conclusive proof as to any party relying on the affidavit of the occurrence of those conditions.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).

Minn. Stat. § 523.18. “a signature by a person as "attorney-in-fact for (Name of the principal)" or "(Name of the principal) by (Name of the attorney-in-fact) the principal's attorney-in-fact" or any similar written disclosure of the principal and attorney-in-fact relationship” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).

Minn. Stat. § 523.20. “Any party refusing to accept the authority of an attorney-in-fact to exercise a power granted by a power of attorney which (1) is executed in conformity with section 523.23 or a form prepared under section 523.231; (2) contains a specimen signature of the attorney-in-fact authorized to act; (3) for a power of attorney executed on or after January 1, 2014, contains an acknowledgement that the attorney-in-fact has read and understood the notice to the attorney-in-fact required under section 523.23; (4) with regard to the execution or delivery of any recordable instrument relating to real property, is accompanied by affidavits that satisfy the provisions of section 523.17; (5) with regard to any other transaction, is signed by the attorney-in-fact in a manner conforming to section 523.18; and (6) when applicable, is accompanied by an affidavit and any other document required by section 523.16, is liable to the principal and to the principal's heirs, assigns, and representative of the estate of the principal in the same manner as the party would be liable had the party refused to accept the authority of the principal to act on the principal's own behalf unless: (1) the party has actual notice of the revocation of the power of attorney prior to the exercise of the power; (2) the duration of the power of attorney specified in the power of attorney itself has expired; or (3) the party has actual knowledge of the death of the principal or, if the power of attorney is not a durable power of attorney, actual notice of a judicial determination that the principal is legally incompetent. This provision does not negate any liability which a party would have to the principal or to the attorney-in-fact under any other form of power of attorney under the common law or otherwise.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).

Minn. Stat. § 523.231. “The commissioner of military affairs may prepare alternative short forms for a general power of attorney for military members in active service, as defined in section 190.05. A form prepared by the commissioner is an alternative to the statutory short form in section 523.23.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).