The Minnesota legislature recently made some changes to Minnesota’s statutory Short Form Power of Attorney. The changes to the form apply to Power of Attorney forms executed on or after January 1, 2014. 

House File No. 232 amended Chapter 523 of Minnesota Statutes in the following ways:

1. The principal and the attorney-in-fact must acknowledge and sign a notice included in the form that details the purpose of the form, powers given to the attorney-in-fact, duties of the attorney-in-fact, and termination of the relationship.
2. The attorney-in-fact is no longer given the power to make health care decisions for the principal. The form specifically states that this must be accomplished through a Health Care Directive.
3. The new form requires that the principal explicitly allow the attorney-in-fact to make gifts to the attorney-in-fact, or anyone the attorney-in-fact is legally obligated to support. The gifting limit is also now tied to the annual gift tax exclusion effective during the year when the gift was made ($14,000 currently), rather than the current $10,000 limit.

A new statute has also been enacted that gives the principal or any interested person the right to petition the court for judicial relief from actions of an attorney-in-fact. This section went into effect August 1, 2013, and applies to powers of attorney executed before, on, or after that date. 

These changes are only effective for forms executed after this year. While documents executed before January 1, 2014 will still be effective after that time, this is a good opportunity to review any existing Power of Attorney forms in place.