Financial Power of Attorney Utah: What Your Agent Can and Cannot Do

A financial power of attorney in Utah grants your agent authority over your money, property, and financial affairs. But it is not a blank check. Utah Code Title 75A, Chapter 2 draws precise boundaries around what an agent can do by default and what requires explicit authorization.

Understanding these boundaries matters because crossing them exposes the agent to personal liability and potential criminal charges.

Default Powers Under a General Financial POA

When you grant general authority under a Utah financial POA, your agent can manage:

• Banking: Deposit, withdraw, transfer funds, open and close accounts, manage safe deposit boxes
• Real estate: Buy, sell, lease, mortgage, or manage property (the POA must be recorded with the county recorder for the transaction to proceed)
• Taxes: Prepare and file state and federal returns, negotiate with the IRS, claim refunds
• Business operations: Manage business interests, sign contracts, handle employment matters
• Insurance: Apply for, modify, or cancel insurance policies and file claims
• Government benefits: Apply for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans benefits
• Personal property: Buy, sell, or manage vehicles, equipment, and other tangible assets

These categories cover the vast majority of financial management needs during incapacity.

Hot Powers: What Requires Explicit Authorization

Utah Code section 75A-2-201 identifies a set of sensitive financial actions that are completely excluded from any general grant of authority. Even if the POA says "my agent may do everything," these specific powers remain disabled unless the principal individually initials each one:

• Making gifts from the principal's assets
• Creating, amending, revoking, or terminating an inter vivos (living) trust
• Changing joint tenancy survivorship rights or community property rights
• Changing beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, or annuities
• Delegating fiduciary authority to another person
• Disclaiming property or renouncing inheritances

For LDS families in Utah, the gifting authority has particular significance. If the principal wants their agent to continue paying tithing during their incapacity, the POA must explicitly authorize gifting. Without that authorization, a non-family agent or disgruntled heir could challenge tithing payments as unauthorized waste of estate assets.

Agent Fiduciary Duties

Under section 75A-2-114, a financial agent in Utah owes the principal strict fiduciary duties:

Loyalty: Act solely in the principal's interest, not the agent's own.

Care: Exercise the competence and diligence a prudent person would show in their own affairs.

Record-keeping: Maintain detailed records of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions.

Asset separation: Keep the principal's property separate from the agent's own property. No commingling of funds.

These duties are non-waivable. The principal cannot release the agent from them in the POA document. Violating them exposes the agent to civil liability for damages and criminal prosecution under Utah's elder financial abuse statute, section 76-5-111.4.

Agent Self-Dealing Restrictions

Section 75A-2-217 adds another layer of protection. An agent who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal cannot use the principal's property to benefit themselves or anyone they are legally obligated to support, unless the POA document contains explicit instructions permitting it.

This means a friend or professional fiduciary serving as agent cannot pay themselves from the principal's assets for their services unless the document specifically authorizes compensation.

Real Estate Transactions: The Recording Requirement

If the agent needs to buy, sell, or refinance real property using the POA, the original document must be recorded with the county recorder in the county where the property is located. As of May 2026, the flat recording fee is $45 per document.

The county recorder will reject documents that do not meet formatting requirements, so the POA must include the property's legal description and comply with document formatting standards under Utah Code section 57-3-105.

When the Financial POA Ends

A financial POA terminates automatically:

• Upon the principal's death. The agent's authority ceases immediately. Post-death administration requires a personal representative, executor, or trustee.
• Upon revocation by the principal. A competent principal can revoke at any time by delivering written notice to the agent and any institutions relying on the document.
• Upon court order. A judge can terminate the POA if a guardian or conservator is appointed.

The Utah Power of Attorney Kit includes the financial POA framework with a pre-formatted hot powers checklist, agent record-keeping ledger, and the county recording formatting required for real estate transactions.

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