Power of Attorney Acceptance and Refusal Rules in Ohio

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Scope and presentation

The Act covers financial powers while excluding health-care, specified voting and governmental-form powers (§ 1337.23). A photocopy or electronically transmitted copy generally has the same effect as the original, subject to another statute (§ 1337.26(D)).

Certification and judicial review

Section 1337.61 (§ 1337.61) supplies an optional form for an agent to certify facts about the power and authority. It does not create a recipient-request deadline or a later acceptance clock. Under § 1337.36(A)(9), the principal, agent and a person asked to accept a power are among those who may petition to construe it or review the agent's conduct and seek appropriate relief. The provision does not prescribe a specific response-day deadline, written refusal, or fee award for an improper refusal.

What trips people up

Other law applicable to a financial institution or other entity controls if it conflicts with this Act (§ 1337.40), and the Act does not displace other Ohio remedies (§ 1337.41). The statutory treatment of an acceptance request therefore does not settle every transaction question.

House Bill 446, passed by the House and referred to Senate Judiciary, would add § 1337.36(C). It would let a court award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to any party, as justice may require, in a proceeding involving administration of a power of attorney. That proposal is not current law.

Common questions

Does an old power expire just because time passed? Under § 1337.30(C), an agent's authority remains exercisable despite lapse of time unless the power provides otherwise, until authority terminates under subsection (B).

What if the recipient acts after the power was terminated? Under § 1337.30(D), termination is ineffective against a person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of it, subject to the statute's stated qualification.

Can the principal end a petition under this section? On the principal's motion, the court must dismiss a § 1337.36(B) petition unless it finds that the principal lacks capacity to revoke the agent's authority or the power.

Statutes and sources

The quoted Ohio provisions come from the official enrolled S.B. 117; the H.B. 446 quotation is from its pending House-passed text. Both were accessed October 3, 2026.