Colorado Power of Attorney: Types & Requirements

Sign a power of attorney, and someone you trust can step in and manage your money or your medical care the moment you can't. Colorado recognizes two main types — financial and medical — each governed by its own rules. Skip it, and your family often ends up in court asking a judge for authority you could have handed them in an afternoon.

What Is a Power of Attorney in Colorado?

Two people, one document. You — the "principal" — sign it. The person you name — your "agent" — gets the legal authority to act for you. Colorado splits the subject into two separate statutes: financial authority runs through the Colorado Uniform Power of Attorney Act (C.R.S. Title 15, Article 14), while medical decision-making is handled under the state's health care decision statutes.

What Does a Financial Power of Attorney Cover?

Banking. Paying bills. Managing investments. Handling a real estate closing. Filing your taxes. A financial power of attorney can cover all of it, or just one narrow task — you decide how broad the authority is. You also decide when it starts: immediately, or only once a doctor confirms you've become incapacitated (what's called a "springing" power of attorney).

What Does a Medical Power of Attorney Cover?

Some call it a health care proxy. Others call it a medical durable power of attorney. Either name, the job is the same: if you can't make or communicate a health care decision yourself, your agent steps in — consenting to or refusing treatment, choosing providers and facilities, pulling your medical records when a doctor needs your history. Most people sign it alongside an advance directive spelling out their own end-of-life wishes, so the agent isn't guessing at what you would have wanted.

What Makes a Colorado Power of Attorney "Durable"?

"Durable" means the power of attorney stays in effect even after you become incapacitated — which is precisely when it matters most. Under the Colorado Uniform Power of Attorney Act (C.R.S. Title 15, Article 14), a power of attorney is presumed durable unless the document specifically says otherwise. Without that durability, a power of attorney would lapse at the exact moment your agent needs the authority, forcing your family into a guardianship or conservatorship proceeding instead.

What Does Colorado Require for a Power of Attorney to Be Valid?

• • You must be an adult of sound mind at the time you sign
• • The document must be signed by you (or by someone else in your presence and at your direction, if you're physically unable to sign)
• • The signature generally must be acknowledged before a notary public for the document to be effective and, where real estate is involved, recordable, under the Colorado Uniform Power of Attorney Act (C.R.S. Title 15, Article 14)
• • The agent you name should be someone you trust completely — the Act gives an agent significant authority with limited built-in oversight

When Does a Colorado Power of Attorney End?

• • You revoke it in writing while you're still competent to do so
• • You die (a power of attorney ends at death — it does not authorize your agent to handle your estate afterward; that's what a will or a personal representative is for)
• • A specific end date or triggering event named in the document occurs
• • If not durable, the moment you become incapacitated
• • Generally, if your agent is your spouse and you divorce or legally separate — a default rule under the Colorado Uniform Power of Attorney Act (C.R.S. Title 15, Article 14) unless the document says that authority should continue

What Happens Without a Power of Attorney in Colorado?

If you become incapacitated with no power of attorney in place, your family typically has to petition the court for a guardianship (for personal and health care decisions) or a conservatorship (for financial decisions) — a court process our Durango elder law practice guides families through regularly. It works, but it's slower, more expensive, and more public than a power of attorney signed in advance, and the court — not your family — chooses who's appointed if there's disagreement. A power of attorney signed while you're healthy avoids that entirely.