New York Power of Attorney Form
Changes Effective June 13, 2021
General Obligations Law § 5-1501, et seq., has been amended, resulting in significant changes to the New York Powers of Attorney law. The changes that will affect your real estate practice can be summarized as follows:
- A new statutory form power of attorney must be used for powers of attorney executed on or after June 13, 2021. Powers of attorney executed prior to June 13 in conformity with the old law remain valid. Do not use the new form prior to June 13.
- The signature of the principal must be witnessed by two disinterested witnesses and acknowledged by a notary. The notary may serve as one of the two witnesses by signing in both the acknowledgement section and the witness section.
- Under prior law, any revisions, alterations, or modifications of the statutory form could invalidate the power of attorney. The new law permits a power of attorney that “substantially conforms,” and allows insignificant mistakes in wording, spelling, punctuation, or formatting, or the use of bold or italic type, or language that is essentially the same as but not identical to the statutory form, including the utilization of language from a previous statute.
Click here for FAQs about the new Power of Attorney law and form.
Click here to download a Word version of the 2021 Power of Attorney form prepared by the New York State Bar Association.
If you have any questions, please contact our Senior Counsel, Stephen Maggiola, at [email protected] or 914-333-3113.
