N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501B – Creation of a valid power of attorney; when effective
§ 5-1501B. Creation of a valid power of attorney; when effective. 1. To be valid, except as otherwise provided in section 5-1512 of this title, a statutory short form power of attorney, or a non-statutory power of attorney, executed in this state by a principal, must:
Terms Used In N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501B
- Agent: means a person granted authority to act as attorney-in-fact for the principal under a power of attorney, and includes the original agent and any co-agent or successor agent. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Capacity: means ability to comprehend the nature and consequences of the act of executing and granting, revoking, amending or modifying a power of attorney, any provision in a power of attorney, or the authority of any person to act as agent under a power of attorney. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Incapacitated: means to be without capacity. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Non-statutory power of attorney: means a power of attorney that is not a statutory short form power of attorney. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Person: means an individual, whether acting for himself or herself, or as a fiduciary or as an official of any legal, governmental or commercial entity (including, but not limited to, any such entity identified in this subdivision), corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, government agency, government entity, government instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Power of attorney: means a written document, other than a document referred to in section 5-1501C of this title, by which a principal with capacity designates an agent to act on his or her behalf and includes both a statutory short form power of attorney and a non-statutory power of attorney. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Principal: means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older, acting for himself or herself and not as a fiduciary or as an official of any legal, governmental or commercial entity, who executes a power of attorney. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Sign: means to place any memorandum, mark or sign, written, printed, stamped, photographed, engraved or otherwise upon an instrument or writing, or to use an electronic signature as that term is defined in subdivision three of § 302 of the state technology law, with the intent to execute the instrument, writing or electronic record. See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
- Statutory short form power of attorney: means a power of attorney that meets the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision one of section 5-1501B of this title, and that substantially conforms to the wording of the form set forth in section 5-1513 of this title; provided however, that any section indicated as "Optional" that is not used may be omitted and replaced by the words "Intentionally Omitted". See N.Y. General Obligations Law 5-1501
(a) Be typed or printed using letters which are legible or of clear type no less than twelve point in size, or, if in writing, a reasonable equivalent thereof.
(b) Be signed, initialed and dated by a principal with capacity, or in the name of such principal by another person, other than a person designated as the principal's agent or successor agent, in the principal's presence and at the principal's direction, in either case with the signature of the person signing duly acknowledged in the manner prescribed for the acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property and witnessed by two persons who are not named in the instrument as agents or as permissible recipients of gifts, in the manner described in subparagraph two of paragraph (a) of section 3-2.1 of the estate, powers and trusts law in the presence of the principal. The person who takes the acknowledgement under this paragraph may also serve as one of the witnesses. When a person signs at the direction of a principal he or she shall sign by writing or printing the principal's name, and printing and signing his or her own name.
(c) Be signed and dated by any agent acting on behalf of the principal with the signature of the agent duly acknowledged in the manner prescribed for the acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property. A power of attorney executed pursuant to this section is not invalid solely because there has been a lapse of time between the date of acknowledgment of the signature of the principal and the date or dates of acknowledgment of the signature or signatures of any agent or agents or successor agent or successor agents authorized to act on behalf of the principal or because the principal became incapacitated during any such lapse of time.
(d) Substantially conform to the wording of the:
(1) "Caution to the Principal" in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 5-1513 of this title; and
(2) "Important Information for the Agent" in paragraph (n) of subdivision one of section 5-1513 of this title.
2. Insubstantial variation in the wording of the "Caution to the Principal" of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 5-1513 of this title or of the "Important Information for the Agent" of paragraph (n) of subdivision one of section 5-1513 of this title shall not prevent a power of attorney from being deemed a statutory short form power of attorney or a non-statutory power of attorney.
3. (a) The date on which an agent's signature is acknowledged is the effective date of the power of attorney as to that agent; provided, however, that if two or more agents are designated to act together, the power of attorney takes effect when all the agents so designated have signed such power of attorney with their signatures acknowledged.
(b) If the power of attorney states that it takes effect upon the occurrence of a date or a contingency specified in the document, then the power of attorney takes effect only when the date or contingency identified in the document has occurred, and the signature of the agent acting on behalf of the principal has been acknowledged. If the document requires that a person or persons named or otherwise identified therein declare, in writing, that the identified contingency has occurred, such a declaration satisfies the requirement of this paragraph without regard to whether the specified contingency has occurred.
4. Nothing of this title shall be construed to bar the use or validity of any other or different form of power of attorney desired by a person other than a principal as the term principal is defined in section 5-1501 of this title.
5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any statutory short form power of attorney and any statutory gift rider executed by a principal in the manner conforming with the law in effect at the time shall remain valid and enforceable pursuant to section 5-1504 of this title, even if signed by an agent at a later date, including but not limited to, being signed on or after June thirteenth, two thousand twenty-one.
(b) Any revocation of a power of attorney that was delivered to an agent shall remain in effect pursuant to this subdivision.
6. Nothing in this title shall prohibit the execution of a valid power of attorney for the purpose of transferring a salvage certificate of title and the execution of an odometer and damage disclosure statement in connection with such title by electronic means pursuant to Article 3 of the state technology law.