Illinois Financial Power of Attorney
Illinois has its own Power of Attorney Act with a statutory short form for property. Every property power, statutory or not, must be signed by the principal, signed by at least one witness, and acknowledged before a notary. An Illinois power of attorney also survives the principal's incapacity unless the document says otherwise.
What Illinois law does to this document
Signing: one witness plus a notary
A property power that does not follow the statutory short form must still be executed by the principal and name the agent and the agent's powers. It must be signed by at least one witness to the principal's signature and show that the principal acknowledged the signature before a notary public. The statutory form adds that the notary may not also sign as the witness. A document signed before a notary alone does not meet the Illinois requirement.
755 ILCS 45/3-3(b) and 45/3-3.6(a)Who cannot be the witness or notary
The agent and any successor agent are disqualified. So are a parent, sibling or descendant of the principal or of any agent, and the spouse of any of them. The principal's attending physician or mental health provider and the owner or operator of a health care facility where the principal is a patient or resident are also barred, along with their relatives.
755 ILCS 45/3-3.6The statutory short form is optional
The statutory property power has three parts: a notice to the individual signing, the form itself, and a notice to the agent. The Act says the form is not meant to be exclusive and other forms of power of attorney may be used. Co-agents may not be named in the statutory short form. In any other form, co-agents act by majority consent unless the document provides otherwise.
755 ILCS 45/3-1, 45/3-3(a) and 45/2-10.5Durable by default, and how incapacity is shown
Unless the document states an earlier end date, the agency continues until the principal's death despite the principal's later disability or incapacity. For a power that takes effect only on incapacity, the Act treats a principal as incapacitated when a licensed physician has examined the principal and determined that the principal lacks decision-making capacity. The physician must sign a written record within 90 days after the examination and it must be delivered to the agent, who may rely on it conclusively.
755 ILCS 45/2-5 and 45/2-3(c-5)Gifts and beneficiary changes must be spelled out
The standard categories of powers in the statutory form do not give the agent power to make gifts of the principal's property, exercise powers of appointment, or change beneficiaries the principal has named. Those powers exist only if the principal adds them. An agent also may not revoke or amend the principal's trust without specific authority and a specific reference to the trust in the document.
755 ILCS 45/3-4 and 45/2-9Banks and other third parties
A person who relies in good faith on a copy of a power of attorney is protected, and may ask the agent for a signed Agent's Certification and Acceptance of Authority in the statutory wording. It is deemed unreasonable to refuse a properly executed Illinois statutory short form only because it is not on the institution's own form or because time has passed since it was signed. Effective January 1, 2027, an amendment removes two grounds from the statutory list of reasonable causes to refuse, including the agent's refusal to provide a copy certified as valid by an attorney.
755 ILCS 45/2-8Where people go wrong in Illinois
- Choosing the generator's notary-only signing option, when Illinois requires at least one witness in addition to the notary for any power of attorney for property.
- Asking a child, sibling or parent of the principal or the agent, or the spouse of one of them, to act as the witness, when all of them are disqualified and the generator's witness statement rules out only the agent.
- Expecting a bank to treat the generator's draft like the statutory short form, when the draft is a nonstatutory power and the rule that deems certain refusals unreasonable is written for the statutory form (755 ILCS 45/2-8(e)).
How the generator works
Names someone you trust to handle your money and property matters, either only if you become incapacitated (durable) or starting right away, plus a matching revocation to cancel it. Answer a short interview and the draft assembles as you go, with Illinois already set as the governing state. Download it as PDF or Word. No fee. No account.