Colorado § 15-14-705 - Execution of power of attorney.

§ 15-14-705. Execution of power of attorney.

A power of attorney must be signed by the principal or in the principal's conscious presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign the principal's name on the power of attorney. A signature on a power of attorney is presumed to be genuine if the principal acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

Source: L. 2009: Entire part added, (HB 09-1198), ch. 106, p. 386, § 1, effective April 9.

OFFICIAL COMMENT

While notarization of the principal's signature is not required to create a valid power of attorney, this section strongly encourages the practice by according acknowledged signatures a statutory presumption of genuineness. Furthermore, because Section 15-14-719 (Acceptance of and Reliance Upon Acknowledged Power of Attorney) and alternative Sections 15-14-720 (Alternative A Liability for Refusal to Accept Acknowledged Power of Attorney, and Alternative B Liability for Refusal to Accept Acknowledged Statutory Form Power of Attorney ) do not apply to unacknowledged powers, persons who are presented with an unacknowledged power of attorney may be reluctant to accept it. As a practical matter, an acknowledged signature is required if the power of attorney will be recorded by the agent in conjunction with the execution of real estate documents on behalf of the principal. See R.P.D., Annotation, Recording Laws as Applied to Power of Attorney under which Deed or Mortgage is Executed, 114 A.L.R. 660 (1938).

This section, at a minimum, requires that the power of attorney be signed by the principal or by another individual who the principal has directed to sign the principal's name. If another individual is directed to sign the principal's name, the signing must occur in the principal's "conscious presence." The 1990 amendments to the Uniform Probate Code codified the "conscious presence" test for the execution of wills (Section 2-502(a)(2)), which generally requires that the signing is sufficient if it takes place within the range of the senses usually sight or hearing of the individual who directed that another sign the individual's name. See Unif. Probate Code § 2-502 cmt. (2003). For a discussion of acknowledgment of a signature by an individual whose name is signed by another, see R.L.M., Annotation, Formal Acknowledgment of Instrument by One Whose Name is Signed thereto by Another as an Adoption of the Signature, 57 A.L.R. 525 (1928).