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A Massachusetts financial power of attorney is written authority over your finances. The FormsPal template lets you, the principal, name an agent and initial each financial power. Anyone needing help with banking or taxes can create it online or download the PDF.
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A Massachusetts financial power of attorney is a document in which you, the principal, appoint another person, called your agent or attorney-in-fact, to manage financial matters for you. This might involve processing financial transactions, overseeing property holdings, submitting tax documents, and determining investment choices. The powers given may vary in scope, depending on how the document is structured.
FormsPal calls this template a general financial power of attorney because the form can grant a broad set of money and property powers. The definition of a durable power in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 uses the term "attorney in fact" for the person a principal designates in writing, so you will see both names.
A financial power of attorney is a kind of power of attorney, and it covers money and property matters rather than every kind of authority a person can give another. Power of attorney is the wider name. The template's own notice says it does not cover medical or health-care decisions. Our power of attorney document page lists the other kinds.
The FormsPal template for a Massachusetts financial power of attorney lists thirteen financial areas, from real property transactions to tax matters. You initial each area you want your agent to handle, or initial one line to grant all of them.
The template also includes three preprinted special instructions. They cover medical reimbursement claims, retirement and savings accounts, and digital assets.
A financial POA gives your agent bank authority on this template when you initial the line for Banking and other financial institution transactions, or the all-powers line (N). Read the template's wording of that power so you know what it lets your agent do with your accounts. Ask your bank what it wants to see before your agent first acts on an account.
You get a financial power of attorney in Massachusetts by deciding who will act for you, what they can do and when their authority starts and ends, then completing and signing the form. On this form, the person whose finances are involved is the principal, so that person makes the appointment, not a relative or friend. Make these choices before you open the template:
Then follow the steps to fill it out and the steps to sign and use it.
Your agent and successor are the names that matter most on this form, because your agent acts on every power you initial. Choose someone who handles money carefully, stays reachable and is willing to do the work. Talk to both people before you write their names, and agree on how your agent will keep you informed.
In Massachusetts, the rules on this page for durable and other powers of attorney come from Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 through Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-505. This table covers durable powers. The section on how the document ends covers revocation, death and end dates.
| Topic | Rule | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Durable wording | A power of attorney is durable when the writing contains the statute's durable wording or similar words showing the principal's intent that the authority continues despite later disability or incapacity. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 |
| Acts during incapacity | All acts an attorney in fact does under a durable power during the principal's disability or incapacity have the same effect, and bind the principal and successors in interest, as if the principal were competent and not disabled. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-502 |
| Court-appointed fiduciary | If, after a durable power is signed, a court of the principal's domicile appoints a conservator, guardian of the estate or other fiduciary to manage all of the principal's property, or all of it except specified exclusions, the attorney in fact is accountable to that fiduciary as well as to the principal. The fiduciary has the same power to revoke or amend that the principal would have had if not disabled or incapacitated. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-503(a) |
| Naming a conservator or guardian | A principal may nominate, by a durable power, the conservator or guardian of the person for the court's consideration, if protective proceedings for the principal's person or estate are commenced later. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-503(b) |
The definition in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 calls for a writing with durable wording, and it names no witness count or notary step. This page covers only the sections it cites, so ask a lawyer about any transaction they do not address.
A Massachusetts general power of attorney is durable when the writing shows that your agent's authority continues despite your later disability or incapacity, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501. The wording that section gives is either of these, or similar words showing that intent:
Unless the writing states a time of termination, durable authority also continues despite the lapse of time since signing, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501. Read your completed form for that wording before you count on it during an incapacity. On this template, the third Termination Date choice ends the power of attorney when you are determined to be incapacitated, as the template defines that term. For authority meant to continue, use our Massachusetts durable power of attorney form or another Massachusetts power of attorney form.
The Massachusetts General Power of Attorney Form comes as an Adobe PDF with fillable fields, and this table lists its names, cited sections and format.
| Document Name | Massachusetts General Power of Attorney Form |
| Other Name | Massachusetts Financial Power of Attorney |
| Relevant Laws | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-502, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-503(a), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-503(b), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-505 |
| Avg. Time to Fill Out | 10 minutes |
| # of Fillable Fields | 41 |
| Available Formats | Adobe PDF |
Filling out the Massachusetts general financial power of attorney means working through the form in order, from the names in the appointment paragraph to the officer's seal on the acknowledgment page. Keep the PDF open next to these steps and work through the parts in order.
The screenshots under each step show the FormsPal Massachusetts General Financial Power of Attorney template filled with sample entries in blue, so you can see where each answer goes. The names, addresses, dates and amounts are examples only.
Principal and Agent
Write your full name and address in the first blanks of the appointment paragraph. Then write the full name and address of the person you appoint as your agent. Check that both names match your government-issued IDs.
Initial Powers (A) to (K)
Initial the line in front of each power you want your agent to have. This covers (A) Real property transactions through (K) Benefits from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs. Leave a line blank to withhold that power.
Initial Powers (L) to (N)
Initial (L) Retirement plan transactions and (M) Tax matters if you want your agent to handle them. To grant every power, initial line (N) only and ignore the other lines. The special instructions that follow are preprinted, so there is nothing to fill in there.
Effective Date
Initial one line. The first line makes the power of attorney effective immediately, and the second line makes it effective on a date you pick. If you pick a date, write the day and the year.
Termination Date: Written Revocation
The Termination Date section has three choices, and you initial one of them. The first choice ends the power of attorney when you sign a written revocation.
Termination Date: Set Date or Incapacity
The second choice ends the power of attorney on a date you pick, so write the day and the year. The third choice ends it when you are determined to be incapacitated, as the template defines that term.
Successor Attorney-in-Fact
Write your agent's name first. Then write the name and address of the alternate agent named as successor.
Date, Signature and Printed Name
Fill in the day, month and year after "Signed this". Sign on the signature line and print your name below it.
Acknowledgment: County, Date and Names
Page 5 holds the acknowledgment for a notary public or other officer. At the notary's office, fill in the county, the date, the officer's name and title, and your name.
Acknowledgment: Officer's Signature and Seal
The notary or other officer signs the signature line and adds the seal. This line is not for your signature.
Once the template is filled in, the remaining steps are signing it, having it notarized, sharing copies and storing the original. Work through them in this order, and keep a signed copy for your own records.
Your Signature
You must sign the document once you have filled out the form and initialed the powers you grant. Use the same name you wrote in the appointment paragraph.
Notarization
Page 5 of the template holds an acknowledgment for a notary public or other officer, so take the completed form to one. This step comes from the template, not from a rule this page cites: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 sets no notary rule for this document. See the FAQ for what to ask before you sign.
Inform Relevant Parties
Tell your banks, insurers and other institutions that your attorney-in-fact has the authority to act on your behalf. Give them a copy of the signed document so they can see which powers you initialed.
Safe Storage
Store the original document in a safe place, such as a safe deposit box or with a trusted attorney. Also, provide your attorney-in-fact with a copy of the document to ensure they can prove their authority when needed.
This Massachusetts financial power of attorney template offers three end terms in its Termination Date section, and you initial one: when you sign a written revocation, on a date you pick, or when you are determined to be incapacitated. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-505 does not affect a provision ending a power of attorney by expiration of time or by an event other than express revocation or a change in the principal's capacity. A set end date is that kind of provision.
Your choice is not the only limit. If, after a durable power is signed, a court of the principal's domicile appoints a conservator, guardian of the estate or other fiduciary to manage all of the principal's property, or all of it except specified exclusions, that fiduciary has the same power to revoke or amend that the principal would have had if not disabled or incapacitated, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-503(a). A revocation or the principal's death does not end the agency as to an agent or other person who, without actual knowledge of it, acts in good faith under the power, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504.
On this template, the first Termination Date choice ends the power of attorney when you sign a written revocation. If you initialed the set date or incapacity choice, ask a lawyer whether and how you can still revoke, because the sections this page cites give no rule on when a principal may revoke.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504 protects an agent or other person who, without actual knowledge of the revocation, acts in good faith under the power or relies in good faith on acts under it. Tell your agent and each institution holding a copy as soon as you revoke, and keep proof that you told them. FormsPal also has a revocation of power of attorney form.
The principal's death does not revoke the agency as to an agent or other person who acts in good faith under the power without actual knowledge of the death, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504. Any such action, unless otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the principal's successors in interest, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504.
The same protection applies when a principal whose written power of attorney is not durable becomes disabled or incapacitated: the agency is not revoked as to an agent or other person who acts in good faith under the power without actual knowledge of it, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504. Any such action, unless otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the principal and successors in interest, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-504.
A financial power of attorney is not the right document for health care decisions or a minor's temporary care: this template's notice leaves out medical decisions, and each of those needs has its own rules in the table below.
| Need | Document and rule | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Health care decisions | A health care proxy is in writing, signed by a competent adult or at that adult's direction in the presence of two other adults who subscribe their names as witnesses. The witnesses affirm in writing that the principal appeared to be at least eighteen years of age, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence. A person named as health care agent cannot act as a witness to it. See our Massachusetts medical power of attorney forms. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 201D, § 2 |
| A minor's temporary care | A parent of a minor, other than one whose parental rights were terminated or who signed a voluntary surrender, or a guardian, may appoint a temporary agent for a period not exceeding 60 days. The delegation is a writing signed by, or at the direction of, the parent or guardian, attested by at least 2 witnesses 18 years of age or older, neither of whom is the temporary agent, together with the temporary agent's written acceptance. It cannot include the power to consent to marriage or adoption of a minor. A parent or guardian may not appoint a temporary agent if the minor has another living parent whose whereabouts are known and who is willing and able to provide care and custody, unless that parent consents in writing. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-103 |
The sections this page cites do not settle that: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 defines a durable power of attorney, a status this form has only if its wording fits, and sets no witness or notary rule for this document. Page 5 holds the acknowledgment for a notary public or other officer. Ask a lawyer before you sign what else applies, in particular if your agent may use the real property power. Ask the bank or other institution that will rely on the document what it expects before you sign.
On this template, the broadest choice is line (N), which grants every power the form lists instead of the separate lines. Durable wording under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 5-501 concerns whether authority continues through incapacity, not which powers it includes.
The FormsPal form is free to create online or download as a PDF, and any office or lawyer that helps you sets its own charge. Ask about that charge when you book.
Yes, you can name a backup agent, called a successor attorney-in-fact, in the paragraph the template gives for it. The template has a Successor Attorney-in-Fact paragraph on page 4. Write the alternate agent's name and address there.
You set start and end dates by initialing a line in the Effective Date section and a line in the Termination Date section. Page 3 has an Effective Date section and a Termination Date section. In each one, initial the line you want and write the day and the year if you pick a date.
Yes, use the Create My Document button to answer a few questions and build the form, or download the PDF and fill it in yourself with the FormsPal PDF editor.
These official Massachusetts Legislature pages hold every section this page cites, so you can read the wording yourself:
General information, not legal or tax advice.
