Power of Attorney Acceptance and Refusal Rules in Rhode Island

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The statutory short form

Chapter 18-16 governs the optional statutory short form when used (§ 18-16-1). A document qualifies as that form when it is written, duly acknowledged by the principal and contains the specified grant language, with permitted struck-out subdivisions (§ 18-16-2(e)). The chapter does not bar another agreed form (§ 18-16-2(c)).

Section 18-16-6 describes what banking-transaction authority in the short form permits the agent to do. These provisions address the agent’s authority; they provide no seven-day or other recipient-response clock, request procedure, written rejection rule, listed refusal grounds, or refusal-specific acceptance order.

Common questions

Does the short-form chapter require a bank to answer within a fixed number of days? Sections 18-16-1, -2 and -6 provide no such response period.

Must every power of attorney use Rhode Island’s printed short form? No. Section 18-16-2(c) expressly permits another form desired by the parties.

Statutes and sources

Current Rhode Island General Laws, accessed October 4, 2026.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 18-16-1. “The statutory form of short form power of attorney, as set forth in § 18-16-2, may be used in the creation of a power of attorney for the purposes set forth in that section; and when used and created, shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).

R.I. Gen. Laws § 18-16-2. “(c) No provision of this chapter shall be construed to bar the use of any other or different form of power of attorney desired by the parties concerned. (e) A power of attorney is a “statutory short form power of attorney,” as this phrase is used in this chapter, when it is in writing, has been duly acknowledged by the principal and contains the exact wording of clause First set forth in subsection (a) of this section, except that any one or more of subdivisions (A) to (J) of the form may be stricken out and initialed by the principal, in which case the subdivisions stricken out and initialed and also subdivision (J) of the form shall be deemed eliminated. A statutory short form power of attorney may contain modifications or additions to the types described in § 18-16-15.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).

R.I. Gen. Laws § 18-16-6. “(a) In a statutory short form power of attorney, the language conferring general authority with respect to banking transactions shall be construed to mean that the principal authorizes the agent: (b) All powers described in this section shall be equally exercisable with respect to any banking transaction engaged in by the principal at the giving of the power of attorney or thereafter engaged in, whether conducted in the state of Rhode Island or elsewhere.” Official statute (accessed October 4, 2026).