How to Revoke a Power of Attorney in Wyoming

Your daughter moved away. Your business partner isn't trustworthy anymore. The relationship ended. Whatever the reason, you signed a Wyoming power of attorney and now you want it dead. The good news: you can revoke it at any time, for any reason, as long as you have mental capacity. The trap: revocation doesn't work until people know about it — and the statute is specific about what "know" means.

Step 1: Put the Revocation in Writing

Wyoming requires revocations to be in writing. There is no official statewide revocation form, but the document needs:

• Your name and the date;
• Clear identification of the POA being revoked (date of the original document, named agent);
• Unambiguous language: "I hereby revoke the power of attorney executed on [date] naming [agent] as my agent, and all authority granted under it";
• Your signature — notarized, matching the execution standard of the original document (W.S. § 3-9-105).

Also revoke any successor agents and prior POAs explicitly if you mean to — "any and all powers of attorney previously executed by me" covers the history.

Step 2: Notify Everyone — This Is the Legally Critical Part

Under W.S. § 3-9-110, a revocation is not effective against the agent or any third party until they have actual knowledge of it. Actions taken in good faith without that knowledge remain valid and binding on you.

That rule dictates your notification list:

• The agent and any successor agents — send the revocation by a method you can prove (certified mail, email with confirmation, hand delivery with a witness);
• Every bank, credit union, and brokerage that has the POA on file;
• Anyone else holding a copy: county treasurer's office, title companies, your attorney, financial advisors.

This is where the copy-distribution list you (hopefully) kept at signing pays for itself. You can't notify institutions you forgot about — and an unnotified bank can honor the old document in perfect legality.

If you're executing a replacement POA with a new agent, tell the banks the old one is revoked and deliver the new document in the same visit or letter, so the 7-business-day acceptance clock (W.S. § 3-9-120) starts on the replacement.

Step 3: Record It (Real Estate POAs)

If the original POA authorized real estate transactions and was recorded with a County Clerk (required under W.S. § 34-1-104 before an agent can convey property), the revocation isn't complete until it's recorded too. Under W.S. § 34-1-105, the written revocation must be recorded in the same county clerk's office where the original POA was recorded.

Skip this, and the public record still shows an agent with apparent authority to sign deeds and mineral leases on your property — a title-insurance nightmare even if everyone privately knows better.

For POAs executed before January 1, 2018, W.S. § 3-5-103 separately allows recording an instrument of revocation (with a copy of the original POA attached) in your county of residence.

Step 4: Recover and Destroy Copies

Ask the former agent to return all originals and copies. Retrieve what you can; document what you couldn't recover (your notification letters are the protection for those stray copies). If the former agent refuses to return the document, that's another reason every institution's written notice matters.

Special Situations

You lack capacity concerns. Only a principal with capacity can revoke. If family members believe an agent is abusing an incapacitated parent, revocation isn't available to the parent — the remedy is reporting to Wyoming Adult Protective Services and petitioning the district court, which can terminate or limit the POA and appoint a conservator. See power of attorney agent duties and abuse in Wyoming.

A conservator was appointed. The agent's authority isn't automatically canceled — the agent becomes accountable to the conservator — but the court and conservator can restrict or end it.

The agent wants out. Agents resign by giving written notice to the principal (and to any successor agent and relevant third parties). A resignation with a named successor is seamless; without one, the POA simply fails.

After the Revocation

Verify at each bank that the old POA is flagged revoked in their system. Check the county record if real estate was involved. Then decide what replaces it: most people who revoke still need someone authorized — the question is who, with what powers. If you execute a fresh document, treat it as a new setup: new notarization, new bank deliveries, new distribution list.

The Wyoming Power of Attorney Kit includes a revocation tracker that walks this exact sequence — written revocation, provable notices, county recording, copy recovery — so the old authority is actually dead, not just wished dead. Half-done revocations are how former agents keep transacting.

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