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MI House Bill 4644

Legislation

State: Michigan
Signed: November 07, 2023

Effective: July 01, 2024
Chapter: Public Act No. 187

Summary
Michigan enacts the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, authorizing a power of attorney to be acknowledged before a Notary or other official authorized to take acknowledgments and granting a presumption of genuineness to a power of attorney that is.
Affects
Creates as yet uncodified sections in the Michigan Compiled Laws.
Changes
  1. Defines several terms, but for the purposes of the Act that apply to Notaries, the following definitions of “durable,” “electronic,” “power of attorney,” “principal,” “record,” and “sign,” are particularly valuable.
  2. Provides that to be effective, a power of attorney must be signed by the principal or by another person directed by the principal to sign who signs in the conscious presence of the principal.
  3. Requires a power of attorney, to be durable, to be acknowledged before a Notary or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments or signed in the presence of 2 witnesses.
  4. Authorizes a power of attorney to be signed and notarized with an electronic signature.
  5. Provides that 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.
  6. Clarifies that a power of attorney that is witnessed by 2 witnesses but not acknowledged before a Notary or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments is not entitled to the presumption of genuineness nor is it “acknowledged” within the meanings of Sections 119 and 120.
  7. Provides a statutory power of attorney form.
Analysis

Michigan enacts the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA). The UPOAA has been one of the Uniform Law Commission’s most popular recent acts. Nearly 40 states have enacted a form of the UPOAA. In Michigan’s case, like many states it allows a power of attorney to either be acknowledged before a Notary or other official authorized to take acknowledgments or signed by two witnesses. The Act grants a presumption of genuineness to an acknowledged power of attorney, which provides an incentive for principals to have a Notary take their acknowledgment on it. Like most of the states that have enacted the UPOAA, the definition of “sign” permits powers of attorney to be signed with an electronic signature, including by a Notary.

Read House Bill 4644.

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