TX House Bill 2918

Texas is the latest state to make modifications to its power of attorney statutes. House Bill 2918 makes modifications to the statutory durable power of attorney from, which must be acknowledged before a Notary. It is common for such forms to provide instructions to the person signing the power of attorney by requiring him or her to initial or indicate which of the several possible powers the person wants his or her agent or attorney in fact to fulfill. In the Texas form, a signer may indicate that he or she wants the attorney in fact to exercise all the applicable powers by initialing one line at the end and leaving the rest of the powers blank or without initials. HB 2918 also provides that the power of attorney is valid if one or more of the categories on the form is not initialed. This is important for Notaries to recognize, because the NNA has always recommended that any blanks within a document should be completed. Because of the statutory provision, a Notary in essence may notarize a power of attorney that does not contain initials in one of these categories. Another provision of HB 2918 worth mentioning is that the statutory power of attorney now provides an instruction to the attorney in fact for how the attorney in fact should identify him- or herself when signing a document as attorney in fact. The attorney in fact is instructed to disclose his or her identity by signing the document in the following manner: “(Principal’s Name) by (Your Signature) as Agent (or as Attorney in Fact).”