Chapter 1337 | Power Of Attorney

Section 1337.01 | Power of attorney.

• Effective: February 1, 2001
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 279 - 124th General Assembly

A power of attorney for the conveyance, mortgage, or lease of any interest in real property shall be signed, acknowledged, and certified as provided in section 5301.01 of the Revised Code.

Section 1337.02 | Form and effect of power of attorney.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

A deed, mortgage, or lease of any interest in real property, made by virtue of a power of attorney, must contain the name of the grantor, mortgagor, or lessor, and shall convey, mortgage, or lease the interest of such grantor, mortgagor, or lessor as fully as if such deed, mortgage, or lease were executed by such grantor, mortgagor, or lessor, in person. At any time previous to the conveyance, mortgage, or lease, the grantor, mortgagor, or lessor may revoke such power of attorney.

Section 1337.03 | Validity of certain acts of attorney in fact.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

No deed executed by a person acting for another, under a power of attorney, acknowledged, and recorded, is invalid or defective because he, instead of his principal, is named in such deed as such attorney as grantor; nor because his name, as such attorney, is subscribed to such deed, instead of the name of his principal; nor because the certificate of acknowledgment, instead of setting forth that the deed was acknowledged by the principal, by his attorney, sets forth that it was acknowledged by the person who executed it, as such attorney. All such deeds shall be as valid and effectual, in all respects, within the authority conferred by such powers of attorney, as if they had been executed by the principals of such attorneys, in person.

Section 1337.04 | Recording of power of attorney.

• Effective: October 24, 2024
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 94 - 135th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "real property interest" means a deed, mortgage, land installment contract, or lease.

(B) A power of attorney used for the execution of a real property instrument shall be properly executed and acknowledged by the principal before the execution and acknowledgement of such real property instrument executed by virtue of such power of attorney.

For purposes of this section, if the execution and acknowledgement of the power of attorney is dated the same date as the execution and acknowledgment of the real property instrument, the power of attorney shall be presumed to have been executed and acknowledged before the execution and acknowledgment of the real property instrument.

(C) A power of attorney used for the execution of a real property instrument shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which such property is situated, before the recording of the real property instrument executed by virtue of such power of attorney.

For purposes of this section, a power of attorney that is known to have been recorded the same day, but after, the recording of the real property instrument shall be considered to have been recorded before the real property instrument.

If a power of attorney is not recorded before, or is not known to have been recorded on the same day as, the recording of the real property instrument executed by virtue of such power of attorney, the power of attorney may be subsequently placed of record as an attachment to a supporting affidavit made by any person having knowledge of the facts or competent to testify concerning them in open court, so long as the power of attorney was executed and acknowledged not later than the day of the execution of the real property instrument. The supporting affidavit shall include all of the following:

(1) The name of the person appearing by record to be the owner of the property described in the real property instrument executed by virtue of the power of attorney at the time of the recording of the affidavit;

(2) The permanent parcel number of the property;

(3) The legal description of the property subject to the real property instrument executed by virtue of the power of attorney;

(4) The official record reference of the real property instrument executed by virtue of the power of attorney;

(5) If the power of attorney that the affidavit accompanies is a photocopy of the power of attorney, rather than the original, a statement that the photocopy is a true and accurate copy and a statement regarding why the original is not being recorded.

(D) The county recorder shall record the supporting affidavit in the official records, indexed by the name of the current record owner.

(E) Notwithstanding any contrary provision set forth in this section, a real property instrument executed by virtue of a power of attorney that has been of record for a period of ten years or more shall be presumed valid and of full force and effect if the power of attorney has not been placed of record.

(F) The amendments to this section by S.B. 94 of the 135th general assembly have no effect on the rights of a bona fide purchaser for value who acquired those rights without actual knowledge or constructive notice of the power of attorney, the real property instrument executed by virtue of the power of attorney, or an affidavit that meets the requirements of division (C) of this section.

(G) The amendments to this section by S.B. 94 of the 135th general assembly have no effect on the law of constructive notice or chain of title analysis set forth in Spring Lakes Ltd. v. O.F.M. Co., 12 Ohio St.3d 333 (1984) ; Ohio Turnpike Commission v. Spellman Outdoor Advertising Services, LLC, 2010-Ohio-1705 ; and Spellman Outdoor Advertising Services, LLC v. Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, 2016-Ohio-7152.

(H) The amendments to this section by S.B. 94 of the 135th general assembly shall be given retroactive effect to the fullest extent permitted under Section 28 of Article II, Ohio Constitution. The amendments to this section shall not be given retroactive effect if to do so would affect any accrued substantive right or vested rights in any person or in any real property instrument.

Last updated August 27, 2024 at 3:01 PM

Section 1337.05 | Revocation of power of attorney must be recorded.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

No instrument containing a power of attorney for the conveyance, mortgage, or lease of an interest in real property, which has been recorded, will be revoked by any act of the person by whom it was executed, unless the instrument containing such revocation is also recorded in the same office in which the instrument containing the power of attorney was recorded.

Section 1337.06 | Execution and evidence of power of attorney.

• Effective: February 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 279 - 124th General Assembly

A power of attorney for the transfer of personal property or the transaction of business relating to the transfer of personal property, in order to be admitted to record as provided in section 1337.07 of the Revised Code, shall be signed and acknowledged in the same manner as deeds and mortgages under section 5301.01 of the Revised Code. When so executed, acknowledged, and recorded, a copy of the record, certified by the county recorder, with the recorder's official seal affixed to it, shall be received in all courts and places within this state as prima-facie evidence of the existence of that instrument and as conclusive evidence of the existence of that record.

Section 1337.07 | Admission of power of attorney to record.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

Any person interested may have a power of attorney authorizing the transfer of personal property or the transaction of any business relating thereto admitted to record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which such property is situated, or in which any of such business is to be transacted.

Section 1337.08 | Record of power of attorney authorizing transfer of personal property.

• Effective: January 30, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 72 - 130th General Assembly

The county recorder shall record in the official records all powers of attorney authorizing the transfer of personal property or the transaction of any business relating thereto. Upon presentation of such a power of attorney, the county recorder shall endorse thereon the date of its presentation, and after it is recorded endorse thereon the time at which the instrument was recorded, and the number or letter and page of the official records in which it is recorded. The county recorder also shall keep an index of each power of attorney so recorded as provided in section 317.18 of the Revised Code.

Section 1337.092 | Personal liability.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) If an attorney in fact enters into a contract in the representative capacity of the attorney in fact, if the contract is within the authority of the attorney in fact, and if the attorney in fact discloses in the contract that it is being entered into in the representative capacity of the attorney in fact, the attorney in fact is not personally liable on the contract, unless the contract otherwise specifies. If the words or initialism "attorney in fact," "as attorney in fact," "AIF," "power of attorney," "POA," or any other word or words or initialism indicating representative capacity as an attorney in fact are included in a contract following the name or signature of an attorney in fact, the inclusion is sufficient disclosure for purposes of this division that the contract is being entered into in the attorney in fact's representative capacity as attorney in fact.

(B) An attorney in fact is not personally liable for a debt of the attorney in fact's principal, unless one or more of the following applies:

(1) The attorney in fact agrees to be personally responsible for the debt.

(2) The debt was incurred for the support of the principal, and the attorney in fact is liable for that debt because of another legal relationship that gives rise to or results in a duty of support relative to the principal.

(3) The negligence of the attorney in fact gave rise to or resulted in the debt.

(4) An act of the attorney in fact that was beyond the attorney in fact's authority gave rise to or resulted in the debt.

(5) An agreement to assist in the recovery of funds under section 169.13 of the Revised Code was the subject of the power of attorney that gave rise to or resulted in the debt.

(C) This section applies but is not limited to, and the terms "power of attorney" and "attorney in fact" include but are not limited to, an agency agreement and an agent under an agency agreement.

Section 1337.10 | Fees of recorder - microfilm process.

• Effective: February 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 279 - 124th General Assembly

The county recorder shall charge the same fee for the recording of a power of attorney authorizing the transfer of personal property or the transaction of business relating to the transfer of personal property, the indexing of that instrument, and for making a certified copy of the record of the instrument, that the recorder is allowed by section 317.32 of the Revised Code to charge for similar services in regard to other instruments.

In a county in which the county recorder has determined to use the microfilm process as provided by section 9.01 of the Revised Code, the recorder may require that all cancellations, releases, or other actions affecting recorded powers of attorney be by separate instrument, signed and acknowledged as provided by section 5301.01 of the Revised Code. The original instrument bearing the proper endorsement may be used as that separate instrument. Any cancellations, releases, or other actions described in this section shall be recorded in the books in which the powers of attorney were recorded. The fee for recordation shall be as set forth in this section.

Section 1337.11 | Durable power of attorney for health care definitions.

• Effective: September 30, 2021
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 110 - 134th General Assembly

As used in sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older.

(B) "Attending physician" means the physician to whom a principal or the family of a principal has assigned primary responsibility for the treatment or care of the principal or, if the responsibility has not been assigned, the physician who has accepted that responsibility.

(C) "Comfort care" means any of the following:

(1) Nutrition when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death;

(2) Hydration when administered to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death;

(3) Any other medical or nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that is taken to diminish the pain or discomfort of a principal, but not to postpone death.

(D) "Consulting physician" means a physician who, in conjunction with the attending physician of a principal, makes one or more determinations that are required to be made by the attending physician, or to be made by the attending physician and one other physician, by an applicable provision of sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

(E) "Declaration for mental health treatment" has the same meaning as in section 2135.01 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Guardian" means a person appointed by a probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code to have the care and management of the person of an incompetent.

(G) "Health care" means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat an individual's physical or mental condition or physical or mental health.

(H) "Health care decision" means informed consent, refusal to give informed consent, or withdrawal of informed consent to health care.

(I) "Health care facility" means any of the following:

(1) A hospital;

(2) A hospice care program, pediatric respite care program, or other institution that specializes in comfort care of patients in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state;

(3) A nursing home;

(4) A home health agency;

(5) An intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities;

(6) A regulated community mental health organization.

(J) "Health care personnel" means physicians, nurses, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians-basic, emergency medical technicians-intermediate, emergency medical technicians-paramedic, medical technicians, dietitians, other authorized persons acting under the direction of an attending physician, and administrators of health care facilities.

(K) "Home health agency" has the same meaning as in section 3740.01 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Hospice care program" and "pediatric respite care program" have the same meanings as in section 3712.01 of the Revised Code.

(M) "Hospital" has the same meanings as in sections 3701.01, 3727.01, and 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(N) "Hydration" means fluids that are artificially or technologically administered.

(O) "Incompetent" has the same meaning as in section 2111.01 of the Revised Code.

(P) "Intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities" has the same meaning as in section 5124.01 of the Revised Code.

(Q) "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that, when administered to a principal, will serve principally to prolong the process of dying.

(R) "Medical claim" has the same meaning as in section 2305.113 of the Revised Code.

(S) "Mental health treatment" has the same meaning as in section 2135.01 of the Revised Code.

(T) "Nursing home" has the same meaning as in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code.

(U) "Nutrition" means sustenance that is artificially or technologically administered.

(V) "Permanently unconscious state" means a state of permanent unconsciousness in a principal that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by the principal's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the principal, is characterized by both of the following:

(1) Irreversible unawareness of one's being and environment.

(2) Total loss of cerebral cortical functioning, resulting in the principal having no capacity to experience pain or suffering.

(W) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and additionally includes political subdivisions and governmental agencies, boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and other instrumentalities.

(X) "Physician" means a person who is authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(Y) "Political subdivision" and "state" have the same meanings as in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.

(Z) "Professional disciplinary action" means action taken by the board or other entity that regulates the professional conduct of health care personnel, including the state medical board and the board of nursing.

(AA) "Regulated community mental health organization" means a residential facility as defined and licensed under section 5119.34 of the Revised Code or a community mental health services provider as defined in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(BB) "Terminal condition" means an irreversible, incurable, and untreatable condition caused by disease, illness, or injury from which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as determined in accordance with reasonable medical standards by a principal's attending physician and one other physician who has examined the principal, both of the following apply:

(1) There can be no recovery.

(2) Death is likely to occur within a relatively short time if life-sustaining treatment is not administered.

(CC) "Tort action" means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property, other than a civil action for damages for a breach of contract or another agreement between persons.

Last updated July 15, 2021 at 1:33 PM

Section 1337.12 | Formality of execution.

• Effective: March 20, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 126 - 130th General Assembly

(A)(1) An adult who is of sound mind voluntarily may create a valid durable power of attorney for health care by executing a durable power of attorney, in accordance with section 1337.24 of the Revised Code, that authorizes an attorney in fact as described in division (A)(2) of this section to make health care decisions for the principal at any time that the attending physician of the principal determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal. The durable power of attorney for health care may authorize the attorney in fact, commencing immediately upon the execution of the instrument or at any subsequent time and regardless of whether the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions, to obtain information concerning the principal's health, including protected health information as defined in 45 C.F.R. 160.103. Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code, the authorization may include the right to give informed consent, to refuse to give informed consent, or to withdraw informed consent to any health care that is being or could be provided to the principal. Additionally, to be valid, a durable power of attorney for health care shall satisfy both of the following:

(a) It shall be signed at the end of the instrument by the principal and shall state the date of its execution.

(b) It shall be witnessed in accordance with division (B) of this section or be acknowledged by the principal in accordance with division (C) of this section.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division, a durable power of attorney for health care may designate any competent adult as the attorney in fact. The attending physician of the principal and an administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is receiving care shall not be designated as an attorney in fact in, or act as an attorney in fact pursuant to, a durable power of attorney for health care. An employee or agent of the attending physician of the principal and an employee or agent of any health care facility in which the principal is being treated shall not be designated as an attorney in fact in, or act as an attorney in fact pursuant to, a durable power of attorney for health care, except that these limitations do not preclude a principal from designating either type of employee or agent as the principal's attorney in fact if the individual is a competent adult and related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, or if the individual is a competent adult and the principal and the individual are members of the same religious order.

(3) A durable power of attorney for health care shall not expire, unless the principal specifies an expiration date in the instrument. However, when a durable power of attorney contains an expiration date, if the principal lacks the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal on the expiration date, the instrument shall continue in effect until the principal regains the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal.

(B) If witnessed for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall be witnessed by at least two individuals who are adults and who are not ineligible to be witnesses under this division. Any person who is related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, any person who is designated as the attorney in fact or alternate attorney in fact in the instrument, the attending physician of the principal, and the administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is receiving care are ineligible to be witnesses.

The witnessing of a durable power of attorney for health care shall involve the principal signing, or acknowledging the principal's signature, at the end of the instrument in the presence of each witness. Then, each witness shall subscribe the witness's signature after the signature of the principal and, by doing so, attest to the witness's belief that the principal appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence. The signatures of the principal and the witnesses under this division are not required to appear on the same page of the instrument.

(C) If acknowledged for purposes of division (A)(1)(b) of this section, a durable power of attorney for health care shall be acknowledged before a notary public, who shall make the certification described in section 147.53 of the Revised Code and also shall attest that the principal appears to be of sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence.

(D)(1) If a principal has both a valid durable power of attorney for health care and a valid declaration, division (B) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code applies. If a principal has both a valid durable power of attorney for health care and a DNR identification that is based upon a valid declaration and if the declaration supersedes the durable power of attorney for health care under division (B) of section 2133.03 of the Revised Code, the DNR identification supersedes the durable power of attorney for health care to the extent of any conflict between the two. A valid durable power of attorney for health care supersedes any DNR identification that is based upon a do-not-resuscitate order that a physician issued for the principal which is inconsistent with the durable power of attorney for health care or a valid decision by the attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney.

(2) As used in division (D) of this section:

(a) "Declaration" has the same meaning as in section 2133.01 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Do-not-resuscitate order" and "DNR identification" have the same meanings as in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(E)(1) In a durable power of attorney for health care, a principal may nominate a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both for consideration by a court if proceedings for the appointment of a guardian for the principal's person, estate, or both are commenced at a later time. The principal may authorize the person nominated as the guardian or the attorney in fact to nominate a successor guardian for consideration by the court. The principal's nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both is revoked by the principal's subsequent nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both, and, except for good cause shown or disqualification, the court shall make its appointment in accordance with the principal's most recent nomination.

(2) The principal may direct that bond be waived for a person nominated as guardian or successor guardian under division (E)(1) of this section.

(3) A durable power of attorney for health care that contains the nomination of a person to be the guardian of the person, estate, or both of the principal may be filed with the probate court for safekeeping, and the probate court shall designate the nomination as the nomination of a standby guardian.

(4) If a guardian is appointed for the principal, a durable power of attorney for health care is not terminated, and the authority of the attorney in fact continues unless the court, pursuant to its authority under section 2111.50 of the Revised Code, limits, suspends, or terminates the power of attorney after notice to the attorney in fact and upon a finding that the limitation, suspension, or termination is in the best interest of the principal.

Section 1337.13 | Authority of attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care.

• Effective: April 6, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 451 - 131st General Assembly

(A)(1) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care shall make health care decisions for the principal only if the instrument substantially complies with section 1337.12 of the Revised Code and specifically authorizes the attorney in fact to make health care decisions for the principal, and only if the attending physician of the principal determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal. If authorized in the instrument, the attorney in fact, commencing immediately upon the execution of the instrument or at any subsequent time specified in the instrument and regardless of whether the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions, may obtain information concerning the principal's health, including protected health information as defined in 45 C.F.R. 160.103. Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) of this section and subject to any specific limitations in the instrument, the attorney in fact may make health care decisions for the principal to the same extent as the principal could make those decisions for the principal if the principal had the capacity to do so. Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) to (F) of this section, in exercising that authority, the attorney in fact shall act consistently with the desires of the principal or, if the desires of the principal are unknown, shall act in the best interest of the principal.

(2) This section does not affect, and shall not be construed as affecting, any right that the person designated as attorney in fact in a durable power of attorney for health care may have, apart from the instrument, to make or participate in the making of health care decisions on behalf of the principal.

(3) Unless the right is limited in a durable power of attorney for health care, when acting pursuant to the instrument, the attorney in fact has the same right as the principal to receive information about proposed health care, to review health care records, and to consent to the disclosure of health care records.

(B)(1) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care does not have authority, on behalf of the principal, to refuse or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining treatment, unless the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state and unless the applicable requirements of divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section are satisfied.

(2) In order for an attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining treatment for a principal who is in a permanently unconscious state, the consulting physician associated with the determination that the principal is in the permanently unconscious state shall be a physician who, by virtue of advanced education or training, of a practice limited to particular diseases, illnesses, injuries, therapies, or branches of medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery, of certification as a specialist in a particular branch of medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery, or of experience acquired in the practice of medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery, is qualified to determine whether the principal is in a permanently unconscious state.

(3) In order for an attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining treatment for a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, the attending physician of the principal shall determine, in good faith, both of the following:

(a) To a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that there is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal ;

(b) That the attorney in fact is competent to make such a decision under division (H) of this section.

(C) Except as otherwise provided in this division, an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care does not have authority, on behalf of the principal, to refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care necessary to provide comfort care. This division does not preclude, and shall not be construed as precluding, an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care from refusing or withdrawing informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal if, under the circumstances described in division (E) of this section, the attorney in fact would not be prohibited from refusing or withdrawing informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal.

(D) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care does not have authority to refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care for a principal who is pregnant if the refusal or withdrawal of the health care would terminate the pregnancy, unless the pregnancy or the health care would pose a substantial risk to the life of the principal, or unless the principal's attending physician and at least one other physician who has examined the principal determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that the fetus would not be born alive.

(E) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care does not have authority to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal, unless the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state and unless the following apply:

(1) The principal's attending physician and at least one other physician who has examined the principal determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to, or alleviate pain of, the principal.

(2) If the principal is in a permanently unconscious state, the principal has authorized the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal when the principal is in a permanently unconscious state by doing both of the following in the durable power of attorney for health care:

(a) Including a statement in capital letters or other conspicuous type, including, but not limited to, a different font, bigger type, or boldface type, that the attorney in fact may refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal if the principal is in a permanently unconscious state and if the determination described in division (E)(1) of this section is made, or checking or otherwise marking a box or line that is adjacent to a similar statement on a printed form of a durable power of attorney for health care;

(b) Placing the principal's initials or signature underneath or adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark described in division (E)(2)(a) of this section.

(3) If the principal is in a permanently unconscious state, the principal's attending physician determines, in good faith, that the principal authorized the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal when the principal is in a permanently unconscious state by complying with the requirements of divisions (E)(2)(a) and (b) of this section.

(4) The principal's attending physician determines, in good faith, that the attorney in fact is competent to make such a decision under division (H) of this section.

(F) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care does not have authority to withdraw informed consent to any health care to which the principal previously consented, unless at least one of the following applies:

(1) A change in the physical condition of the principal has significantly decreased the benefit of that health care to the principal.

(2) The health care is not, or is no longer, significantly effective in achieving the purposes for which the principal consented to its use.

(G) An attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney f or health care does not have authority to make decisions pertaining to the use or continuation of life-sustaining treatment or the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal unless the attorney in fact is competent to make those decisions under division (H) of this section.

(H) An attorney in fact is competent to make decisions under division (B), (E), or (G) of this section unless the attorney in fact is subject to a temporary protection order, civil protection order, or any other protection order issued by a court in this state or another state in which the principal is the alleged victim.

Section 1337.14 | Revocation.

• Effective: October 29, 2003
• Latest Legislation: House Bill NO72 - 125th General Assembly

(A) A principal who creates a valid durable power of attorney for health care may revoke that instrument or the designation of the attorney in fact under it.

The principal may so revoke at any time and in any manner. The revocation shall be effective when the principal expresses an intention to so revoke, except that, if the principal made the principal's attending physician aware of the durable power of attorney for health care, the revocation shall be effective upon its communication to the attending physician by the principal, a witness to the revocation, or other health care personnel to whom the revocation is communicated by such a witness. Absent actual knowledge to the contrary, the attending physician of the principal and other health care personnel who are informed of the revocation of a durable power of attorney for health care by an alleged witness may rely on the information and act in accordance with the revocation.

(B) Upon the communication as described in division (A) of this section to the attending physician of a principal of the fact that the principal's durable power of attorney for health care has been revoked, the attending physician or other health care personnel acting under the direction of the attending physician shall make the fact a part of the principal's medical record.

(C) Unless the instrument provides otherwise, a valid durable power of attorney for health care revokes a prior, valid durable power of attorney for health care.

(D) Regardless of when the declaration is drafted, the execution of a declaration for mental health treatment does not revoke a valid durable power of attorney for health care. A declaration for mental health treatment executed in accordance with Chapter 2135. of the Revised Code supersedes a valid durable power of attorney for health care with regard to mental health treatment and the designation of a proxy to make decisions regarding mental health treatment.

Section 1337.15 | Immunity.

• Effective: July 22, 1998
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 66 - 122nd General Assembly

(A) Subject to division (H) of this section, an attending physician of a principal is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for actions taken in good faith and in reliance on a health care decision when all of the following are satisfied:

(1) The decision is made by an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care after the attorney in fact receives information sufficient to satisfy the requirements of informed consent or refusal or withdrawal of informed consent, and the attending physician, in good faith, believes that the attorney in fact is authorized to make the decision.

(2) The attending physician, in good faith, believes that the decision is consistent with the desires of the principal, or the attorney in fact informs the attending physician that the desires of the principal are unknown and the attending physician, in good faith, believes that the desires of the principal are unknown and that the decision is in the best interest of the principal.

(3) The attending physician determines, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal.

(4) If the decision is to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment, the attending physician attempts, in good faith, to determine the desires of the principal to the extent that the principal is able to convey them and places a report of the attempt in the health care records of the principal.

(5) If the decision is to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment, the attending physician determines, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that both of the following apply:

(a) The principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state.

(b) There is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal.

(6) If the decision pertains to a principal who is pregnant and if the withholding or withdrawal of health care would terminate the pregnancy, the attending physician makes, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, a determination whether or not the pregnancy or health care involved would pose a substantial risk to the life of the principal or a determination whether or not the fetus would be born alive.

(7) If the decision pertains to the provision of nutrition or hydration to a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, the attending physician determines, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to, or alleviate pain of, the principal.

(8) If the decision pertains to the provision of nutrition or hydration to a principal who is in a permanently unconscious state, the attending physician determines, in good faith, that the principal authorized the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to the principal when the principal is in a permanently unconscious state by complying with the requirements of divisions (E)(2)(a) and (b) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) Notwithstanding the health care decision of the attorney in fact, subject to division (H) of this section, an attending physician of a principal is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for providing or for failing to withdraw life-sustaining treatment.

(2) Subject to division (H) of this section, an attending physician who is carrying out in good faith and in a manner consistent with divisions (C) and (E) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code the responsibility to provide comfort care to a principal in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for prescribing, dispensing, administering, or causing to be administered any particular medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure to the principal, including, but not limited to, prescribing, personally furnishing, administering, or causing to be administered by judicious titration or in another manner any form of medication, for the purpose of diminishing the principal's pain or discomfort and not for the purpose of postponing or causing the principal's death, even though the medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure may appear to hasten or increase the risk of the principal's death.

(C) Subject to division (H) of this section, a consulting physician is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action as follows:

(1) If the health care decision involved is one other than the health care decision described in division (C)(2), (3), or (4) of this section, the consulting physician made a determination, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, in conjunction with the attending physician of a principal.

(2) If the decision is to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment, the consulting physician determines, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, after examining the principal, that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state.

(3) If the health care decision involved pertains to a principal who is pregnant and if the withholding or withdrawal of health care would terminate the pregnancy, the consulting physician makes, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, a determination whether or not the pregnancy or health care involved would pose a substantial risk to the life of the principal or a determination whether or not the fetus would be born alive.

(4) If the decision pertains to the provision of nutrition or hydration to a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, the consulting physician determines, in good faith, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to, or alleviate pain of, the principal.

(D) Subject to division (H) of this section, a person is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for actions taken, in good faith, while relying on a durable power of attorney for health care if the person does not have actual knowledge of either of the following facts:

(1) The durable power of attorney has been revoked pursuant to section 1337.14 of the Revised Code.

(2) The durable power of attorney does not substantially comply with sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code.

(E)(1) Subject to division (H) of this section, a consulting physician, an employee or agent of any health care facility or the attending physician of a principal, and health care personnel acting under the direction of the attending physician of a principal are not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and are not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for any action described in division (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this section that was undertaken, in good faith, pursuant to the direction of the attending physician of the principal.

(2) Subject to division (H) of this section, health care personnel who are acting under the direction of the principal's attending physician and who carry out the responsibility to provide comfort care to a principal in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state in good faith and in a manner consistent with divisions (C) and (E) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code are not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and are not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for dispensing, administering, or causing to be administered any particular medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure to the principal, including, but not limited to, personally furnishing, administering, or causing to be administered by judicious titration or in another manner any form of medication, for the purpose of diminishing the principal's pain or discomfort and not for the purpose of postponing or causing the principal's death, even though the medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure may appear to hasten or increase the risk of the principal's death.

(F) Subject to division (H) of this section, a health care facility is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for any action that properly was undertaken pursuant to division (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of this section.

(G) Subject to division (H) of this section, an attorney in fact is not subject to criminal prosecution or professional disciplinary action and is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for health care decisions made in good faith while acting pursuant to the attorney in fact's authority under a durable power of attorney for health care.

(H)(1) Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code and a durable power of attorney for health care do not affect or limit any potential tort or other civil liability of an attending or consulting physician, an employee or agent of a health care facility or an attending physician, health care personnel acting under the direction of an attending physician, a health care facility, an attorney in fact, or any other person, including, but not limited to, liability associated with a medical claim, that satisfies both of the following:

(a) The liability arises out of a negligent action or omission in connection with the medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a principal under a durable power of attorney for health care or arises out of any deviation from reasonable medical standards.

(b) The liability is based on the fact that the negligent action or omission, or the deviation, as described in division (H)(1)(a) of this section caused or contributed to the principal under the durable power of attorney for health care having a terminal condition or being in a permanently unconscious state, or otherwise caused or contributed to any injury to or the wrongful death of the principal.

(2) Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code and a durable power of attorney for health care do not grant an immunity from criminal or civil liability or from professional disciplinary action to health care personnel for actions that are outside the scope of their authority.

Section 1337.16 | Duties of health care providers.

• Effective: July 22, 1998
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 66 - 122nd General Assembly

(A) No physician, health care facility, other health care provider, person authorized to engage in the business of insurance in this state under Title XXXIX of the Revised Code, health insuring corporation, other health care plan, or legal entity that is self-insured and provides benefits to its employees or members shall require an individual to create or refrain from creating a durable power of attorney for health care, or shall require an individual to revoke or refrain from revoking a durable power of attorney for health care, as a condition of being admitted to a health care facility, being provided health care, being insured, or being the recipient of benefits.

(B)(1) Subject to division (B)(2) of this section, an attending physician of a principal or a health care facility in which a principal is confined may refuse to comply or allow compliance with the instructions of an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care on the basis of a matter of conscience or on another basis. An employee or agent of an attending physician of a principal or of a health care facility in which a principal is confined may refuse to comply with the instructions of an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care on the basis of a matter of conscience.

(2)(a) An attending physician of a principal who, or health care facility in which a principal is confined that, is not willing or not able to comply or allow compliance with the instructions of an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care to use or continue, or to withhold or withdraw, health care that were given under division (A) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code, or with any probate court reevaluation order issued pursuant to division (D)(6) of this section, shall not prevent or attempt to prevent, or unreasonably delay or attempt to unreasonably delay, the transfer of the principal to the care of a physician who, or a health care facility that, is willing and able to so comply or allow compliance.

(b) If the instruction of an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care that is given under division (A) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code is to use or continue life-sustaining treatment in connection with a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, the attending physician of the principal who, or the health care facility in which the principal is confined that, is not willing or not able to comply or allow compliance with that instruction shall use or continue the life-sustaining treatment or cause it to be used or continued until a transfer as described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section is made.

(C) Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code and a durable power of attorney for health care created under section 1337.12 of the Revised Code do not affect or limit the authority of a physician or a health care facility to provide or not to provide health care to a person in accordance with reasonable medical standards applicable in an emergency situation.

(D)(1) If the attending physician of a principal and one other physician who examines the principal determine that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, if the attending physician additionally determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal and that there is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal, and if the attorney in fact under the principal's durable power of attorney for health care makes a health care decision pertaining to the use or continuation, or the withholding or withdrawal, of life-sustaining treatment, the attending physician shall do all of the following:

(a) Record the determinations and health care decision in the principal's medical record;

(b) Make a good faith effort, and use reasonable diligence, to notify the appropriate individual or individuals, in accordance with the following descending order of priority, of the determinations and health care decision:

(i) If any, the guardian of the principal. This division does not permit or require the appointment of a guardian for the principal.

(ii) The principal's spouse;

(iii) The principal's adult children who are available within a reasonable period of time for consultation with the principal's attending physician;

(iv) The principal's parents;

(v) An adult sibling of the principal or, if there is more than one adult sibling, a majority of the principal's adult siblings who are available within a reasonable period of time for such consultation.

(c) Record in the principal's medical record the names of the individual or individuals notified pursuant to division (D)(1)(b) of this section and the manner of notification;

(d) Afford time for the individual or individuals notified pursuant to division (D)(1)(b) of this section to object in the manner described in division (D)(3)(a) of this section.

(2)(a) If, despite making a good faith effort, and despite using reasonable diligence, to notify the appropriate individual or individuals described in division (D)(1)(b) of this section, the attending physician cannot notify the individual or individuals of the determinations and health care decision because the individual or individuals are deceased, cannot be located, or cannot be notified for some other reason, the requirements of divisions (D)(1)(b), (c), and (d) of this section and, except as provided in division (D)(3)(b) of this section, the provisions of divisions (D)(3) to (6) of this section shall not apply in connection with the principal. However, the attending physician shall record in the principal's medical record information pertaining to the reason for the failure to provide the requisite notices and information pertaining to the nature of the good faith effort and reasonable diligence used.

(b) The requirements of divisions (D)(1)(b), (c), and (d) of this section and, except as provided in division (D)(3)(b) of this section, the provisions of divisions (D)(3) to (6) of this section shall not apply in connection with the principal if only one individual would have to be notified pursuant to division (D)(1)(b) of this section and that individual is the attorney in fact under the durable power of attorney for health care. However, the attending physician of the principal shall record in the principal's medical record information indicating that no notice was given pursuant to division (D)(1)(b) of this section because of the provisions of division (D)(2)(b) of this section.

(3)(a) Within forty-eight hours after receipt of a notice pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section, any individual so notified shall advise the attending physician of the principal whether the individual objects on a basis specified in division (D)(4)(c) of this section. If an objection as described in that division is communicated to the attending physician, then, within two business days after the communication, the individual shall file a complaint as described in division (D)(4) of this section in the probate court of the county in which the principal is located. If the individual fails to so file a complaint, the individual's objections as described in division (D)(4)(c) of this section shall be considered to be void.

(b) Within forty-eight hours after the priority individual or any member of a priority class of individuals receives a notice pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section or within forty-eight hours after information pertaining to an unnotified priority individual or unnotified priority class of individuals is recorded in a principal's medical record pursuant to division (D)(2)(a) or (b) of this section, the individual or a majority of the individuals in the next class of individuals that pertains to the principal in the descending order of priority set forth in divisions (D)(1)(b)(i) to (v) of this section shall advise the attending physician of the principal whether the individual or majority object on a basis specified in division (D)(4)(c) of this section. If an objection as described in that division is communicated to the attending physician, then, within two business days after the communication, the objecting individual or majority shall file a complaint as described in division (D)(4) of this section in the probate court of the county in which the principal is located. If the objecting individual or majority fails to file a complaint, the objections as described in division (D)(4)(c) of this section shall be considered to be void.

(4) A complaint of an individual that is filed in accordance with division (D)(3)(a) of this section or of an individual or majority of individuals that is filed in accordance with division (D)(3)(b) of this section shall satisfy all of the following:

(a) Name any health care facility in which the principal is confined;

(b) Name the principal, the principal's attending physician, and the consulting physician associated with the determination that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state;

(c) Indicate whether the plaintiff or plaintiffs object on one or more of the following bases:

(i) To the attending physician's determination that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal;

(ii) To the attending physician's determination that there is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal;

(iii) That, in exercising the attorney in fact's authority, the attorney in fact is not acting consistently with the desires of the principal or, if the desires of the principal are unknown, in the best interest of the principal;

(iv) That the durable power of attorney for health care has expired or otherwise is no longer effective;

(v) To the attending physician's and consulting physician's determinations that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state;

(vi) That the attorney in fact's health care decision pertaining to the use or continuation, or the withholding or withdrawal, of life-sustaining treatment is not authorized by the durable power of attorney for health care or is prohibited under section 1337.13 of the Revised Code;

(vii) That the durable power of attorney for health care was executed when the principal was not of sound mind or was under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence;

(viii) That the durable power of attorney for health care otherwise does not substantially comply with section 1337.12 of the Revised Code.

(d) Request the probate court to issue one or more of the following types of orders:

(i) An order to the attending physician to reevaluate, in light of the court proceedings, the determination that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal, the determination that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, or the determination that there is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal;

(ii) An order to the attorney in fact to act consistently with the desires of the principal or, if the desires of the principal are unknown, in the best interest of the principal in exercising the attorney in fact's authority, or to make only health care decisions pertaining to life-sustaining treatment that are authorized by the durable power of attorney for health care and that are not prohibited under section 1337.13 of the Revised Code;

(iii) An order invalidating the durable power of attorney for health care because it has expired or otherwise is no longer effective, it was executed when the principal was not of sound mind or was under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence, or it otherwise does not substantially comply with section 1337.12 of the Revised Code.

(e) Be accompanied by an affidavit of the plaintiff or plaintiffs that includes averments relative to whether the plaintiff is an individual or the plaintiffs are individuals as described in division (D)(1)(b)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) of this section and to the factual basis for the plaintiff's or the plaintiffs' objections;

(f) Name any individuals who were notified by the attending physician in accordance with division (D)(1)(b) of this section and who are not joining in the complaint as plaintiffs;

(g) Name, in the caption of the complaint, as defendants the attending physician of the principal, the attorney in fact under the durable power of attorney for health care, the consulting physician associated with the determination that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, any health care facility in which the principal is confined, and any individuals who were notified by the attending physician in accordance with division (D)(1)(b) of this section and who are not joining in the complaint as plaintiffs.

(5) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Revised Code or of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the state and persons other than an objecting individual as described in division (D)(3)(a) of this section, other than an objecting individual or majority of individuals as described in division (D)(3)(b) of this section, and other than persons described in division (D)(4)(g) of this section are prohibited from commencing a civil action under division (D) of this section and from joining or being joined as parties to an action commenced under division (D) of this section, including joining by way of intervention.

(6)(a) A probate court in which a complaint as described in division (D)(4) of this section is filed within the period specified in division (D)(3)(a) or (b) of this section shall conduct a hearing on the complaint after a copy of it and a notice of the hearing have been served upon the defendants. The clerk of the probate court in which the complaint is filed shall cause the complaint and the notice of the hearing to be so served in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, which service shall be made, if possible, within three days after the filing of the complaint. The hearing shall be conducted at the earliest possible time, but no later than the third business day after such service has been completed. Immediately following the hearing, the court shall enter on its journal its determination whether a requested order will be issued.

(b) If the health care decision of the attorney in fact authorized the use or continuation of life-sustaining treatment and if the plaintiff or plaintiffs requested a reevaluation order to the attending physician of the principal or an order to the attorney in fact as described in division (D)(4)(d)(i) or (ii) of this section, the court shall issue the requested order only if it finds that the plaintiff or plaintiffs have established a factual basis for the objection or objections involved by clear and convincing evidence and, if applicable, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

(c) If the health care decision of the attorney in fact authorized the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and if the plaintiff or plaintiffs requested a reevaluation order to the attending physician of the principal or an order to the attorney in fact as described in division (D)(4)(d)(i) or (ii) of this section, the court shall issue the requested order only if it finds that the plaintiff or plaintiffs have established a factual basis for the objection or objections involved by a preponderance of the evidence and, if applicable, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

(d) If the plaintiff or plaintiffs requested an invalidation order as described in division (D)(4)(d)(iii) of this section, the court shall issue the order only if it finds that the plaintiff or plaintiffs have established a factual basis for the objection or objections involved by clear and convincing evidence.

(e) If the court issues a reevaluation order to the principal's attending physician pursuant to division (D)(6)(b) or (c) of this section, the attending physician shall make the requisite reevaluation. If, after doing so, the attending physician again determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal, that the principal is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, or that there is no reasonable possibility that the principal will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for the principal, the attending physician shall notify the court in writing of the determination and comply with division (B)(2) of this section.

(E)(1) In connection with the provision of comfort care in a manner consistent with divisions (C) and (E) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code to a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, nothing in sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code precludes the attending physician of the principal who carries out the responsibility to provide comfort care to the principal in good faith and while acting within the scope of the attending physician's authority from prescribing, dispensing, administering, or causing to be administered any particular medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure to the principal, including, but not limited to, prescribing, personally furnishing, administering, or causing to be administered by judicious titration or in another manner any form of medication, for the purpose of diminishing the principal's pain or discomfort and not for the purpose of postponing or causing the principal's death, even though the medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure may appear to hasten or increase the risk of the principal's death. In connection with the provision of comfort care in a manner consistent with divisions (C) and (E) of section 1337.13 of the Revised Code to a principal who is in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, nothing in sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code precludes health care personnel acting under the direction of the principal's attending physician who carry out the responsibility to provide comfort care to the principal in good faith and while acting within the scope of their authority from dispensing, administering, or causing to be administered any particular medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure to the principal, including, but not limited to, personally furnishing, administering, or causing to be administered by judicious titration or in another manner any form of medication, for the purpose of diminishing the principal's pain or discomfort and not for the purpose of postponing or causing the principal's death, even though the medical procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure may appear to hasten or increase the risk of the principal's death.

(2) If, at any time, a priority individual or any member of a priority class of individuals under division (D)(1)(b) of this section or if, at any time, the individual or a majority of the individuals in the next class of individuals that pertains to the principal in the descending order of priority set forth in that division, believes in good faith that both of the following circumstances apply, the priority individual, the member of the priority class of individuals, or the individual or majority of individuals in the next class of individuals that pertains to the principal may commence an action in the probate court of the county in which a principal who is in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state is located for the issuance of an order mandating the use or continuation of comfort care in connection with the principal in a manner that is consistent with sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code:

(a) Comfort care is not being used or continued in connection with the principal.

(b) The withholding or withdrawal of the comfort care is contrary to sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code.

(F) Except as provided in divisions (D) and (E) of this section in connection with principals who are in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state, sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code do not authorize the commencement of any civil action in a probate court or court of common pleas for the purpose of obtaining an order relative to a health care decision made by an attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney for health care.

(G) A durable power of attorney for health care, or other document, that is similar to a durable power of attorney for health care authorized by sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code, that is or has been executed under the law of another state prior to, on, or after October 10, 1991, and that substantially complies with that law or with sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 of the Revised Code shall be considered to be valid for purposes of those sections.

Section 1337.17 | Printed form - durable power of attorney for health care.

• Effective: April 6, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 451 - 131st General Assembly

A printed form of durable power of attorney for health care may be sold or otherwise distributed in this state for use by adults who are not advised by an attorney. By use of such a printed form, a principal may authorize an attorney in fact to make health care decisions on the principal's behalf, but the printed form shall not be used as an instrument for granting authority for any other decisions. Any printed form that is sold or otherwise distributed in this state for the purpose described in this section shall include the following notice:

"Notice to Adult Executing This Document

This is an important legal document. Before executing this document, you should know these facts:

This document gives the person you designate (the attorney in fact) the power to make most* health care decisions for you if you lose the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself. This power is effective only when your attending physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself and, notwithstanding this document, as long as you have the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself, you retain the right to make all medical and other health care decisions for yourself.

You may include specific limitations in this document on the authority of the attorney in fact to make health care decisions for you.

Subject to any specific limitations you include in this document, if your attending physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make an informed decision on a health care matter, the attorney in fact generally* will be authorized by this document to make health care decisions for you to the same extent as you could make those decisions yourself, if you had the capacity to do so. The authority of the attorney in fact to make health care decisions for you generally* will include the authority to give informed consent, to refuse to give informed consent, or to withdraw informed consent to any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat a physical or mental condition.

However*, even if the attorney in fact has general authority to make health care decisions for you under this document, the attorney in fact never* will be authorized to do any of the following:

(1) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining treatment (unless your attending physician and one other physician who examines you determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that either of the following applies:

(a) You are suffering from an irreversible, incurable, and untreatable condition caused by disease, illness, or injury from which (i) there can be no recovery and (ii) your death is likely to occur within a relatively short time if life-sustaining treatment is not administered, and your attending physician additionally determines, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that there is no reasonable possibility that you will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself.

(b) You are in a state of permanent unconsciousness that is characterized by you being irreversibly unaware of yourself and your environment and by a total loss of cerebral cortical functioning, resulting in you having no capacity to experience pain or suffering, and your attending physician additionally determines, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that there is no reasonable possibility that you will regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself);

(2) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care necessary to provide you with comfort care (except that, if the attorney in fact is not prohibited from doing so under (4) below, the attorney in fact could refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to you as described under (4) below). (You should understand that comfort care is defined in Ohio law to mean artificially or technologically administered sustenance (nutrition) or fluids (hydration) when administered to diminish your pain or discomfort, not to postpone your death, and any other medical or nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure that would be taken to diminish your pain or discomfort, not to postpone your death. Consequently, if your attending physician were to determine that a previously described medical or nursing procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to you or alleviate your pain, then, subject to (4) below, your attorney in fact would be authorized to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the procedure, treatment, intervention, or other measure.*);

(3) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care for you if you are pregnant and if the refusal or withdrawal would terminate the pregnancy (unless the pregnancy or health care would pose a substantial risk to your life, or unless your attending physician and at least one other physician who examines you determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that the fetus would not be born alive);

(4) Refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of artificially or technologically administered sustenance (nutrition) or fluids (hydration) to you, unless:

(a) You are in a terminal condition or in a permanently unconscious state.

(b) Your attending physician and at least one other physician who has examined you determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to you or alleviate your pain.

(c) If, but only if, you are in a permanently unconscious state, you authorize the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to you by doing both of the following in this document:

(i) Including a statement in capital letters or other conspicuous type, including, but not limited to, a different font, bigger type, or boldface type, that the attorney in fact may refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to you if you are in a permanently unconscious state and if the determination that nutrition or hydration will not or no longer will serve to provide comfort to you or alleviate your pain is made, or checking or otherwise marking a box or line (if any) that is adjacent to a similar statement on this document;

(ii) Placing your initials or signature underneath or adjacent to the statement, check, or other mark previously described.

(d) Your attending physician determines, in good faith, that you authorized the attorney in fact to refuse or withdraw informed consent to the provision of nutrition or hydration to you if you are in a permanently unconscious state by complying with the requirements of (4)(c)(i) and (ii) above.

(5) Withdraw informed consent to any health care to which you previously consented, unless a change in your physical condition has significantly decreased the benefit of that health care to you, or unless the health care is not, or is no longer, significantly effective in achieving the purposes for which you consented to its use ;

(6) Provide, refuse, or withdraw informed consent to life-sustaining treatment, or the provision of artificially or technologically administered sustenance (nutrition) or fluids (hydration) to you, if the attorney in fact is subject to a temporary protection order, civil protection order, or any other protection order in this state or another state in which you are the alleged victim.

Additionally, when exercising authority to make health care decisions for you, the attorney in fact will have to act consistently with your desires or, if your desires are unknown, to act in your best interest. You may express your desires to the attorney in fact by including them in this document or by making them known to the attorney in fact in another manner.

When acting pursuant to this document, the attorney in fact generally* will have the same rights that you have to receive information about proposed health care, to review health care records, and to consent to the disclosure of health care records. You can limit that right in this document if you so choose.

Generally, you may designate any competent adult as the attorney in fact under this document. However, you cannot* designate your attending physician or the administrator of any nursing home in which you are receiving care as the attorney in fact under this document. Additionally, you cannot* designate an employee or agent of your attending physician, or an employee or agent of a health care facility at which you are being treated, as the attorney in fact under this document, unless either type of employee or agent is a competent adult and related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, or unless either type of employee or agent is a competent adult and you and the employee or agent are members of the same religious order.

This document has no expiration date under Ohio law, but you may choose to specify a date upon which your durable power of attorney for health care generally will expire. However, if you specify an expiration date and then lack the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself on that date, the document and the power it grants to your attorney in fact will continue in effect until you regain the capacity to make informed health care decisions for yourself.

You have the right to revoke the designation of the attorney in fact and the right to revoke this entire document at any time and in any manner. Any such revocation generally will be effective when you express your intention to make the revocation. However, if you made your attending physician aware of this document, any such revocation will be effective only when you communicate it to your attending physician, or when a witness to the revocation or other health care personnel to whom the revocation is communicated by such a witness communicate it to your attending physician.

If you execute this document and create a valid durable power of attorney for health care with it, it will revoke any prior, valid durable power of attorney for health care that you created, unless you indicate otherwise in this document.

This document is not valid as a durable power of attorney for health care unless it is acknowledged before a notary public or is signed by at least two adult witnesses who are present when you sign or acknowledge your signature. No person who is related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption may be a witness. The attorney in fact, your attending physician, and the administrator of any nursing home in which you are receiving care also are ineligible to be witnesses.

If there is anything in this document that you do not understand, you should ask your lawyer to explain it to you."

In the preceding notice, the single words, and the two sentences in the second set of parentheses in paragraph (2), followed by an asterisk and all of paragraph (4) shall appear in the printed form in capital letters or other conspicuous type, including, but not limited to, a different font, bigger type, or boldface type.

Section 1337.21 | Short title.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code may be cited as the uniform power of attorney act.

Section 1337.22 | Definitions.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

As used in sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Agent" means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney in fact, or otherwise. "Agent" includes an original agent, coagent, successor agent, and a person to which an agent's authority is delegated.

(B) "Durable," with respect to a power of attorney, means not terminated by the principal's incapacity.

(C) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(D) "Good faith" means honesty in fact.

(E) "Incapacity" means inability of an individual to manage property or business affairs for either of the following reasons:

(1) The individual has an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions even with the use of technological assistance.

(2) The individual is any of the following:

(a) Missing;

(b) Detained, including incarcerated in a penal system;

(c) Outside the United States and unable to return.

(F) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(G) "Power of attorney" means a writing or other record that grants authority to an agent to act in the place of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used.

(H) "Presently exercisable general power of appointment," with respect to property or a property interest subject to a power of appointment, means power exercisable at the time in question to vest absolute ownership in the principal individually, the principal's estate, the principal's creditors, or the creditors of the principal's estate. The term includes a power of appointment not exercisable until the occurrence of a specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable standard, or the passage of a specified period only after the occurrence of the specified event, the satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or the passage of the specified period. The term does not include a power exercisable in a fiduciary capacity or only by will.

(I) "Principal" means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.

(J) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or legal or equitable, or any interest or right therein.

(K) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(L) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to execute or adopt a tangible symbol or to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process.

(M) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(N) "Stocks and bonds" means stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all other types of securities and financial instruments, whether held directly, indirectly, or in any other manner, but does not include commodity futures contracts or call or put options on stocks or stock indexes.

Section 1337.23 | Applicability.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code apply to all powers of attorney except the following:

(A) A power to the extent it is coupled with an interest in the subject of the power, including a power given to or for the benefit of a creditor in connection with a credit transaction;

(B) A power to make health-care decisions;

(C) A proxy or other delegation to exercise voting rights or management rights with respect to an entity;

(D) A power created on a form prescribed by a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality for a governmental purpose.

Section 1337.24 | Power of attorney is durable.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

A power of attorney created under sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code is durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal.

Section 1337.25 | Execution of power of attorney.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

A power of attorney must be signed by the principal or in the principal's conscious presence by another individual directed by the principal to sign the principal's name on the power of attorney. A signature on a power of attorney is presumed to be genuine if the principal acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

Section 1337.26 | Validity of power of attorney.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) A power of attorney executed in this state on or after the effective date of this section is valid if its execution complies with section 1337.25 of the Revised Code.

(B) A power of attorney executed in this state before the effective date of this section is valid if its execution complied with the law of this state as it existed at the time of execution.

(C) A power of attorney executed other than in this state is valid in this state if, when the power of attorney was executed, the execution complied with the law of the jurisdiction that determines the meaning and effect of the power of attorney pursuant to section 1337.27 of the Revised Code or with the requirements for a military power of attorney pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 1044b.

(D) Except as otherwise provided by statute other than sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code, a photocopy or electronically transmitted copy of an original power of attorney has the same effect as the original.

Section 1337.27 | Meaning and effect of power of attorney.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

The meaning and effect of a power of attorney is determined by the law of the jurisdiction indicated in the power of attorney and, in the absence of an indication of jurisdiction, by the law of the jurisdiction in which the power of attorney was executed.

Section 1337.28 | Nomination of guardian; relation of agent to court-appointed fiduciary.

• Effective: March 20, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 126 - 130th General Assembly

(A) In a power of attorney, a principal may nominate a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both and may nominate a guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children, whether born at the time of the execution of the power of attorney or afterward. The nomination is for consideration by a court if proceedings for the appointment of a guardian for the principal's person, estate, or both or if proceedings for the appointment of a guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children are commenced at a later time. The principal may authorize the person nominated as guardian or the agent to nominate a successor guardian for consideration by a court. The principal's nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both or the principal's nomination of a guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children is revoked by the principal's subsequent nomination of a guardian of the principal's person, estate, or both or the principal's subsequent nomination of a guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children, and, except for good cause shown or disqualification, the court shall make its appointment in accordance with the principal's most recent nomination. Nomination of a person as a guardian or successor guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children under this division, and any subsequent appointment of the guardian or successor guardian as guardian under section 2111.02 of the Revised Code, does not vacate the jurisdiction of any other court that previously may have exercised jurisdiction over the person of the minor or incompetent adult child.

(B) The principal may direct that bond be waived for a person nominated as guardian or as a successor guardian.

(C) If, after a principal executes a power of attorney, a court appoints a guardian of the principal's estate or other fiduciary charged with the management of some or all of the principal's property, the agent is accountable to the fiduciary as well as to the principal. The power of attorney is not terminated and the agent's authority continues unless limited, suspended, or terminated by the court after notice to the agent and upon a finding that the limitation, suspension, or termination would be in the best interest of the principal.

(D) A power of attorney that contains the nomination of a person to be the guardian of the person, the estate, or both of one or more of the principal's minor children or incompetent adult children under this division may be filed with the probate court for safekeeping, and the probate court shall designate the nomination as the nomination of a standby guardian.

(E) As used in this section, "incompetent" has the same meaning as in section 2111.01 of the Revised Code.

Section 1337.29 | When power of attorney effective.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) A power of attorney is effective when executed unless the principal provides in the power of attorney that it becomes effective at a future date or upon the occurrence of a future event or contingency.

(B) If a power of attorney becomes effective upon the occurrence of a future event or contingency, the principal, in the power of attorney, may authorize one or more persons to determine in a writing or other record that the event or contingency has occurred.

(C) If a power of attorney becomes effective upon the principal's incapacity and the principal has not authorized a person to determine whether the principal is incapacitated, or the person authorized is unable or unwilling to make the determination, the power of attorney becomes effective upon one of the following determinations made in a writing or other record:

(1) A determination by a physician who has examined the principal or a licensed psychologist who has evaluated the principal that the principal is incapacitated within the meaning of division (E)(1) of section 1337.22 of the Revised Code;

(2) A determination by an attorney at law, a judge, or an appropriate governmental official that the principal is incapacitated within the meaning of division (E)(2) of section 1337.22 of the Revised Code.

(D) A person authorized by the principal in the power of attorney to determine that the principal is incapacitated may act as the principal's personal representative pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1320d to 1320d-8, and applicable regulations, to obtain access to the principal's health-care information and communicate with the principal's health-care provider.

Section 1337.30 | Termination of power of attorney or agent's authority.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) A power of attorney terminates when any of the following occurs:

(1) The principal dies;

(2) The principal becomes incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not durable;

(3) The principal revokes the power of attorney;

(4) The power of attorney provides that it terminates;

(5) The purpose of the power of attorney is accomplished;

(6) The principal revokes the agent's authority or the agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns, and the power of attorney does not provide for another agent to act under the power of attorney.

(B) An agent's authority terminates when any of the following occurs:

(1) The principal revokes the authority;

(2) The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns;

(3) An action is filed for the divorce, dissolution, or annulment of the agent's marriage to the principal or their legal separation, unless the power of attorney otherwise provides;

(4) The power of attorney terminates.

(C) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent's authority is exercisable until the authority terminates under division (B) of this section, notwithstanding a lapse of time since the execution of the power of attorney.

(D) Termination of an agent's authority or of a power of attorney is not effective as to the agent or another person that, without actual knowledge of the termination, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. An act so performed, unless otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the principal and the principal's successors in interest.

(E) Incapacity of the principal of a power of attorney that is not durable does not revoke or terminate the power of attorney as to an agent or other person that, without actual knowledge of the incapacity, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. An act so performed, unless otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the principal and the principal's successors in interest.

(F) The execution of a power of attorney does not revoke a power of attorney previously executed by the principal unless the subsequent power of attorney provides that the previous power of attorney is revoked or that all other powers of attorney are revoked.

Section 1337.31 | Coagents and successor agents.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) A principal may designate two or more persons to act as coagents. Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, each coagent may exercise its authority independently.

(B) A principal may designate one or more successor agents to act if an agent resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, is not qualified to serve, or declines to serve. A principal may grant authority to designate one or more successor agents to an agent or other person designated by name, office, or function. Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a successor agent has the same authority as that granted to the original agent and may not act until all predecessor agents have resigned, died, become incapacitated, are no longer qualified to serve, or have declined to serve.

(C) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney and division (D) of this section, an agent that does not participate in or conceal a breach of fiduciary duty committed by another agent, including a predecessor agent, is not liable for the actions of the other agent.

(D) An agent that has actual knowledge of a breach or imminent breach of fiduciary duty by another agent shall notify the principal and, if the principal is incapacitated, take any action reasonably appropriate in the circumstances to safeguard the principal's best interest. An agent that fails to notify the principal or take action as required by this division is liable for the reasonably foreseeable damages that could have been avoided if the agent had notified the principal or taken action as required by this division.

Section 1337.32 | Reimbursement and compensation of agent.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent is entitled to reimbursement of expenses reasonably incurred on behalf of the principal and to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances.

Section 1337.33 | Agent's acceptance.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, a person accepts appointment as an agent under a power of attorney by exercising authority or performing duties as an agent or by any other assertion or conduct indicating acceptance.

Section 1337.34 | Agent's duties.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Notwithstanding provisions in the power of attorney, an agent that has accepted appointment shall do all of the following:

(1) Act in accordance with the principal's reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by the agent and, otherwise, in the principal's best interest;

(2) Act in good faith;

(3) Act only within the scope of authority granted in the power of attorney;

(4) Attempt to preserve the principal's estate plan to the extent actually known by the agent if preserving the plan is consistent with the principal's best interest based on all relevant factors, including all of the following:

(a) The value and nature of the principal's property;

(b) The principal's foreseeable obligations and need for maintenance;

(c) Minimization of taxes, including income, estate, inheritance, generation-skipping transfer, and gift taxes;

(d) Eligibility for a benefit, a program, or assistance under a statute or regulation.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, an agent that has accepted appointment shall do all of the following:

(1) Act loyally for the principal's benefit;

(2) Act so as not to create a conflict of interest that impairs the agent's ability to act impartially in the principal's best interest;

(3) Act with the care, competence, and diligence ordinarily exercised by agents in similar circumstances;

(4) Keep a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions made on behalf of the principal;

(5) Cooperate with a person that has authority to make health-care decisions for the principal to carry out the principal's reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by the agent and, otherwise, act in the principal's best interest.

(C) An agent that acts in good faith is not liable to any beneficiary of the principal's estate plan for failure to preserve the plan.

(D) An agent that acts with care, competence, and diligence for the best interest of the principal is not liable solely because the agent also benefits from the act or has an individual or conflicting interest in relation to the property or affairs of the principal.

(E) If an agent is selected by the principal because of special skills or expertise possessed by the agent or in reliance on the agent's representation that the agent has special skills or expertise, the special skills or expertise must be considered in determining whether the agent has acted with care, competence, and diligence under the circumstances.

(F) Absent a breach of duty to the principal, an agent is not liable if the value of the principal's property declines.

(G) An agent that exercises authority to delegate to another person the authority granted by the principal or that engages another person on behalf of the principal is not liable for an act, error of judgment, or default of that person if the agent exercises care, competence, and diligence in selecting and monitoring the person.

(H) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, an agent is not required to disclose receipts, disbursements, or transactions conducted on behalf of the principal unless ordered by a court or requested by the principal, a guardian, a conservator, another fiduciary acting for the principal, a governmental agency having authority to protect the welfare of the principal, or, upon the death of the principal, by the personal representative or successor in interest of the principal's estate. If so requested, within thirty days the agent shall comply with the request or provide a writing or other record substantiating why additional time is needed and shall comply with the request within an additional thirty days.

Section 1337.35 | Exoneration of agent.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

A provision in a power of attorney relieving an agent of liability for breach of duty is binding on the principal and the principal's successors in interest except to the extent that either of the following applies:

(A) The provision relieves the agent of liability for breach of duty committed dishonestly, with an improper motive, or with reckless indifference to the purposes of the power of attorney or the best interest of the principal.

(B) The provision was inserted as a result of an abuse of a confidential or fiduciary relationship with the principal.

Section 1337.36 | Judicial relief.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Any of the following persons may petition a court to construe a power of attorney or review the agent's conduct and grant appropriate relief:

(1) The principal or the agent;

(2) A guardian, conservator, or other fiduciary acting for the principal, including an executor or administrator of the estate of a deceased principal;

(3) A person authorized to make health-care decisions for the principal;

(4) The principal's spouse, parent, or descendant;

(5) An individual who would qualify as a presumptive heir of the principal;

(6) A person named as a beneficiary to receive any property, benefit, or contractual right on the principal's death or as a beneficiary of a trust created by or for the principal that has a financial interest in the principal's estate;

(7) A governmental agency having regulatory authority to protect the welfare of the principal;

(8) The principal's caregiver or another person that demonstrates sufficient interest in the principal's welfare;

(9) A person asked to accept the power of attorney.

(B) Upon motion by the principal, the court shall dismiss a petition filed under this section, unless the court finds that the principal lacks capacity to revoke the agent's authority or the power of attorney.

Section 1337.37 | Agent's liability.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

An agent that violates sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code is liable to the principal or the principal's successors in interest for the amount required to restore the value of the principal's property to what it would have been had the violation not occurred and the amount required to reimburse the principal or the principal's successors in interest for the attorney's fees and costs paid on the agent's behalf.

Section 1337.38 | Agent's resignation; notice.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney provides a different method for an agent's resignation, an agent may resign by giving notice to the principal and, if the principal is incapacitated, to whichever of the following applies:

(A) The guardian, if one has been appointed for the principal, and any coagent or successor agent;

(B) If there is no person described in division (A) of this section, to any of the following:

(1) The principal's caregiver;

(2) Another person reasonably believed by the agent to have sufficient interest in the principal's welfare;

(3) A governmental agency having authority to protect the welfare of the principal.

Section 1337.39 | Principles of law and equity.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless displaced by a provision of sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code, the principles of law and equity supplement those sections.

Section 1337.40 | Conflict of laws.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

In the event of a conflict between any provision of sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code and any other provision of law applicable to financial institutions or other entities, the other provision of law controls.

Section 1337.41 | Remedies under other law.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

The remedies provided under sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code are not exclusive and do not abrogate any right or remedy under any other provision of law of this state.

Section 1337.42 | Authority that requires specific grant; grant of general authority.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) An agent under a power of attorney may do any of the following on behalf of the principal or with the principal's property only if the power of attorney expressly grants the agent the authority and if exercise of the authority is not otherwise prohibited by another agreement or instrument to which the authority or property is subject, and, with respect to a revocable trust of which the principal was the settlor, if the trust agreement expressly authorizes the agent to exercise the principal's powers with respect to the revocation, amendment, or distribution:

(1) Create, amend, revoke, or terminate an inter vivos trust to the extent permitted by section 5801.05 of the Revised Code or any other provision of Title LVIII of the Revised Code;

(2) Make a gift;

(3) Create or change rights of survivorship;

(4) Create or change a beneficiary designation;

(5) Delegate authority granted under the power of attorney;

(6) Waive the principal's right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan;

(7) Exercise fiduciary powers that the principal has authority to delegate.

(B) Notwithstanding a grant of authority to do an act described in division (A) of this section, unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent that is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal may not exercise authority under a power of attorney to create in the agent, or in an individual to whom the agent owes a legal obligation of support, an interest in the principal's property, whether by gift, right of survivorship, beneficiary designation, disclaimer, or otherwise.

(C) Subject to divisions (A), (B), (D), and (E) of this section, if a power of attorney grants to an agent authority to do all acts that a principal could do, the agent has the general authority described in sections 1337.45 to 1337.57 of the Revised Code.

(D) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a grant of authority to make a gift is subject to section 1337.58 of the Revised Code.

(E) Subject to divisions (A), (B), and (D) of this section, if the subjects over which authority is granted in a power of attorney are similar or overlap, the broadest authority controls.

(F) Authority granted in a power of attorney is exercisable with respect to property that the principal has when the power of attorney is executed or acquires later, whether or not the property is located in this state and whether or not the authority is exercised or the power of attorney is executed in this state.

(G) An act performed by an agent pursuant to a power of attorney has the same effect and inures to the benefit of and binds the principal and the principal's successors in interest as if the principal had performed the act.

Section 1337.43 | Incorporation of authority.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) An agent has authority described in sections 1337.42 to 1337.58 of the Revised Code if the power of attorney refers to general authority with respect to the descriptive term for the subjects stated in sections 1337.45 to 1337.58 of the Revised Code or cites the section of the Revised Code in which the authority is described.

(B) A reference in a power of attorney to general authority with respect to the descriptive term for a subject in sections 1337.45 to 1337.58 of the Revised Code or a citation to any of those sections incorporates the entire section as if it were set out in full in the power of attorney.

(C) A principal may modify authority incorporated by reference.

Section 1337.44 | Construction of authority generally.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, by executing a power of attorney that incorporates by reference a subject described in sections 1337.45 to 1337.58 of the Revised Code or that grants to an agent authority to do all acts that a principal could do pursuant to division (C) of section 1337.42 of the Revised Code, a principal authorizes the agent, with respect to that subject, to do all of the following:

(A) Demand, receive, and obtain by litigation or otherwise, money or another thing of value to which the principal is, may become, or claims to be entitled, and conserve, invest, disburse, or use anything so received or obtained for the purposes intended;

(B) Contract in any manner with any person, on terms agreeable to the agent, to accomplish a purpose of a transaction and perform, rescind, cancel, terminate, reform, restate, release, or modify the contract or another contract made by or on behalf of the principal;

(C) Execute, acknowledge, seal, deliver, file, or record any instrument or communication the agent considers desirable to accomplish a purpose of a transaction, including creating at any time a schedule listing some or all of the principal's property and attaching it to the power of attorney;

(D) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to a claim existing in favor of or against the principal or intervene in litigation relating to the claim;

(E) Seek on the principal's behalf the assistance of a court or other governmental agency to carry out an act authorized in the power of attorney;

(F) Engage, compensate, and discharge an attorney, accountant, discretionary investment manager, expert witness, or other advisor;

(G) Prepare, execute, and file a record, report, or other document to safeguard or promote the principal's interest under a statute or regulation;

(H) Communicate with any representative or employee of a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, on behalf of the principal;

(I) Access communications intended for, and communicate on behalf of the principal, whether by mail, electronic transmission, telephone, or other means;

(J) Do any lawful act with respect to the subject and all property related to the subject.

Section 1337.45 | Real property.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to real property authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Demand, buy, lease, receive, accept as a gift or as security for an extension of credit, or otherwise acquire or reject an interest in real property or a right incident to real property;

(B) Sell; exchange; convey with or without covenants, representations, or warranties; quitclaim; release; surrender; retain title for security; encumber; partition; consent to partitioning; subject to an easement or covenant; subdivide; apply for zoning or other governmental permits; plat or consent to platting; develop; grant an option concerning; lease; sublease; contribute to an entity in exchange for an interest in that entity; or otherwise grant or dispose of an interest in real property or a right incident to real property;

(C) Pledge or mortgage an interest in real property or right incident to real property as security to borrow money or pay, renew, or extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal or a debt guaranteed by the principal;

(D) Release, assign, satisfy, or enforce by litigation or otherwise a mortgage, deed of trust, conditional sale contract, encumbrance, lien, or other claim to real property that exists or is asserted;

(E) Manage or conserve an interest in real property or a right incident to real property owned or claimed to be owned by the principal, including all of the following:

(1) Insure against liability or casualty or other loss;

(2) Obtain or regain possession of or protect the interest or right by litigation or otherwise;

(3) Pay, assess, compromise, or contest taxes or assessments or apply for and receive refunds in connection with taxes;

(4) Purchase supplies, hire assistance or labor, and make repairs or alterations to the real property.

(F) Use, develop, alter, replace, remove, erect, or install structures or other improvements upon real property in or incident to which the principal has, or claims to have, an interest or right;

(G) Participate in a reorganization with respect to real property or an entity that owns an interest in or right incident to real property and receive, and hold, and act with respect to stocks and bonds or other property received in a plan of reorganization, including all of the following:

(1) Sell or otherwise dispose of them;

(2) Exercise or sell an option, right of conversion, or similar right with respect to them;

(3) Exercise any voting rights in person or by proxy.

(H) Change the form of title of an interest in or right incident to real property;

(I) Dedicate to public use, with or without consideration, easements or other real property in which the principal has, or claims to have, an interest.

Section 1337.46 | Tangible personal property.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to tangible personal property authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Demand, buy, receive, accept as a gift or as security for an extension of credit, or otherwise acquire or reject ownership or possession of tangible personal property or an interest in tangible personal property;

(B) Sell; exchange; convey with or without covenants, representations, or warranties; quitclaim; release; surrender; create a security interest in; grant options concerning; lease; sublease; or otherwise dispose of tangible personal property or an interest in tangible personal property;

(C) Grant a security interest in tangible personal property or an interest in tangible personal property as security to borrow money or pay, renew, or extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal or a debt guaranteed by the principal;

(D) Release, assign, satisfy, or enforce by litigation or otherwise a security interest, lien, or other claim on behalf of the principal with respect to tangible personal property or an interest in tangible personal property;

(E) Manage or conserve tangible personal property or an interest in tangible personal property on behalf of the principal, including all of the following:

(1) Insure against liability or casualty or other loss;

(2) Obtain or regain possession of or protect the property or interest by litigation or otherwise;

(3) Pay, assess, compromise, or contest taxes or assessments or apply for and receive refunds in connection with taxes or assessments;

(4) Move the property from place to place;

(5) Store the property for hire or on a gratuitous bailment;

(6) Use and make repairs, alterations, or improvements to the property.

(F) Change the form of title of an interest in tangible personal property.

Section 1337.47 | Stocks and bonds.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to stocks and bonds authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Buy, sell, and exchange stocks and bonds;

(B) Establish, continue, modify, or terminate an account with respect to stocks and bonds;

(C) Pledge stocks and bonds as security to borrow, pay, renew, or extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal;

(D) Receive certificates and other evidences of ownership with respect to stocks and bonds;

(E) Exercise voting rights with respect to stocks and bonds in person or by proxy, enter into voting trusts, and consent to limitations on the right to vote.

Section 1337.48 | Commodities and options.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to commodities and options authorizes the agent to do both of the following:

(A) Buy, sell, exchange, assign, settle, and exercise commodity futures contracts and call or put options on stocks or stock indexes traded on a regulated option exchange;

(B) Establish, continue, modify, and terminate option accounts.

Section 1337.49 | Banks and other financial institutions.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to banks and other financial institutions authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Continue, modify, and terminate an account or other banking arrangement made by or on behalf of the principal;

(B) Establish, modify, and terminate an account or other banking arrangement with a bank, trust company, savings and loan association, credit union, thrift company, brokerage firm, or other financial institution selected by the agent;

(C) Contract for services available from a financial institution, including renting a safe deposit box or space in a vault;

(D) Withdraw, by check, order, electronic funds transfer, or otherwise, money or property of the principal deposited with or left in the custody of a financial institution;

(E) Receive statements of account, vouchers, notices, and similar documents from a financial institution and act with respect to them;

(F) Enter a safe deposit box or vault and withdraw or add to the contents;

(G) Borrow money and pledge as security personal property of the principal necessary to borrow money or pay, renew, or extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal or a debt guaranteed by the principal;

(H) Make, assign, draw, endorse, discount, guarantee, and negotiate promissory notes, checks, drafts, and other negotiable or nonnegotiable paper of the principal or payable to the principal or the principal's order, transfer money, receive the cash or other proceeds of those transactions, and accept a draft drawn by a person upon the principal and pay it when due;

(I) Receive for the principal and act upon a sight draft, warehouse receipt, or other document of title whether tangible or electronic, or other negotiable or nonnegotiable instrument;

(J) Apply for, receive, and use letters of credit, credit and debit cards, electronic transaction authorizations, and traveler's checks from a financial institution and give an indemnity or other agreement in connection with letters of credit;

(K) Consent to an extension of the time of payment with respect to commercial paper or a financial transaction with a financial institution.

Section 1337.50 | Operation of entity or business.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Subject to the terms of a document or an agreement governing an entity or an entity ownership interest, and unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to the operation of an entity or business authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Operate, buy, sell, enlarge, reduce, or terminate an ownership interest;

(B) Perform a duty or discharge a liability and exercise in person or by proxy a right, power, privilege, or option that the principal has, may have, or claims to have;

(C) Enforce the terms of an ownership agreement;

(D) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to which the principal is a party because of an ownership interest;

(E) Exercise in person or by proxy, or enforce by litigation or otherwise, a right, power, privilege, or option the principal has or claims to have as the holder of stocks and bonds;

(F) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to which the principal is a party concerning stocks and bonds;

(G) With respect to an entity or business owned solely by the principal, do all of the following:

(1) Continue, modify, renegotiate, extend, and terminate a contract made by or on behalf of the principal with respect to the entity or business before execution of the power of attorney;

(2) Determine all of the following:

(a) The location of its operation;

(b) The nature and extent of its business;

(c) The methods of manufacturing, selling, merchandising, financing, accounting, and advertising employed in its operation;

(d) The amount and types of insurance carried;

(e) The mode of engaging, compensating, and dealing with its employees and accountants, attorneys, or other advisors.

(3) Change the name or form of organization under which the entity or business is operated and enter into an ownership agreement with other persons to take over all or part of the operation of the entity or business;

(4) Demand and receive money due or claimed by the principal or on the principal's behalf in the operation of the entity or business and control and disburse the money in the operation of the entity or business.

(H) Put additional capital into an entity or business in which the principal has an interest;

(I) Join in a plan of reorganization, consolidation, conversion, domestication, or merger of the entity or business;

(J) Sell or liquidate all or part of an entity or business;

(K) Establish the value of an entity or business under a buy-out agreement to which the principal is a party;

(L) Prepare, sign, file, and deliver reports, compilations of information, returns, or other papers with respect to an entity or business and make related payments;

(M) Pay, compromise, or contest taxes, assessments, fines, or penalties and perform any other act to protect the principal from illegal or unnecessary taxation, assessments, fines, or penalties, with respect to an entity or business, including attempts to recover, in any manner permitted by law, money paid before or after the execution of the power of attorney.

Section 1337.51 | Insurance and annuities.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to insurance and annuities authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Continue, pay the premium or make a contribution on, modify, exchange, rescind, release, or terminate a contract procured by or on behalf of the principal that insures or provides an annuity to either the principal or another person, whether or not the principal is a beneficiary under the contract;

(B) Procure new, different, and additional contracts of insurance and annuities for the principal and the principal's spouse, children, and other dependents and select the amount, type of insurance or annuity, and mode of payment;

(C) Pay the premium or make a contribution on, modify, exchange, rescind, release, or terminate a contract of insurance or annuity procured by the agent;

(D) Apply for and receive a loan secured by a contract of insurance or annuity;

(E) Surrender and receive the cash surrender value on a contract of insurance or annuity;

(F) Exercise an election;

(G) Exercise investment powers available under a contract of insurance or annuity;

(H) Change the manner of paying premiums on a contract of insurance or annuity;

(I) Change or convert the type of insurance or annuity with respect to which the principal has or claims to have authority described in this section;

(J) Apply for and procure a benefit or assistance under a statute or regulation to guarantee or pay premiums of a contract of insurance on the life of the principal;

(K) Collect, sell, assign, hypothecate, borrow against, or pledge the interest of the principal in a contract of insurance or annuity;

(L) Select the form and timing of the payment of proceeds from a contract of insurance or annuity;

(M) Pay from proceeds or otherwise, compromise or contest, and apply for refunds in connection with a tax or assessment levied by a taxing authority with respect to a contract of insurance or annuity or its proceeds or liability accruing by reason of the tax or assessment.

Section 1337.52 | Estates, trusts, and other beneficial interests.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "estate, trust, or other beneficial interest" means a trust, probate estate, guardianship, conservatorship, escrow, or custodianship or a fund from which the principal is, may become, or claims to be entitled to a share or payment.

(B) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to estates, trusts, and other beneficial interests authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(1) Accept, receive, receipt for, sell, assign, pledge, or exchange a share in or payment from an estate, trust, or other beneficial interest;

(2) Demand or obtain money or another thing of value to which the principal is, may become, or claims to be entitled by reason of an estate, trust, or other beneficial interest, by litigation or otherwise;

(3) Exercise for the benefit of the principal a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the principal;

(4) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to ascertain the meaning, validity, or effect of a deed, will, declaration of trust, or other instrument or transaction affecting the interest of the principal;

(5) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to remove, substitute, or surcharge a fiduciary;

(6) Conserve, invest, disburse, or use anything received for an authorized purpose;

(7) Transfer an interest of the principal in real property, stocks and bonds, accounts with financial institutions or securities intermediaries, insurance, annuities, and other property to the trustee of a revocable trust created by the principal as settlor;

(8) Reject, renounce, disclaim, release, or consent to a reduction in or modification of a share in or payment from an estate, trust, or other beneficial interest.

Section 1337.53 | Claims and litigation.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to claims and litigation authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Assert and maintain before a court or administrative agency a claim, claim for relief, cause of action, counterclaim, offset, recoupment, or defense, including an action to recover property or other thing of value, recover damages sustained by the principal, eliminate or modify tax liability, or seek an injunction, specific performance, or other relief;

(B) Bring an action to determine adverse claims or intervene or otherwise participate in litigation;

(C) Seek an attachment, garnishment, order of arrest, or other preliminary, provisional, or intermediate relief and use an available procedure to effect or satisfy a judgment, order, or decree;

(D) Make or accept a tender, offer of judgment, or admission of facts, submit a controversy on an agreed statement of facts, consent to examination, and bind the principal in litigation;

(E) Submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, and propose or accept a compromise;

(F) Waive the issuance and service of process upon the principal, accept service of process, appear for the principal, designate persons upon which process directed to the principal may be served, execute and file or deliver stipulations on the principal's behalf, verify pleadings, seek appellate review, procure and give surety and indemnity bonds, contract and pay for the preparation and printing of records and briefs, receive, execute, and file or deliver a consent, waiver, release, confession of judgment, satisfaction of judgment, notice, agreement, or other instrument in connection with the prosecution, settlement, or defense of a claim or litigation;

(G) Act for the principal with respect to bankruptcy or insolvency, whether voluntary or involuntary, concerning the principal or some other person, or with respect to a reorganization, receivership, or application for the appointment of a receiver or trustee that affects an interest of the principal in property or other thing of value;

(H) Pay a judgment, award, or order against the principal or a settlement made in connection with a claim or litigation;

(I) Receive money or other thing of value paid in settlement of or as proceeds of a claim or litigation.

Section 1337.54 | Personal and family maintenance.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to personal and family maintenance authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(1) Perform the acts necessary to maintain the customary standard of living of the principal, the principal's spouse, and the following individuals, whether living when the power of attorney is executed or later born:

(a) Other individuals legally entitled to be supported by the principal;

(b) The individuals whom the principal has customarily supported or indicated the intent to support.

(2) Make periodic payments of child support and other family maintenance required by a court or governmental agency or an agreement to which the principal is a party;

(3) Provide living quarters for the individuals described in division (A)(1) of this section by doing either of the following:

(a) Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise contracting;

(b) Paying the operating costs, including interest, amortization payments, repairs, improvements, and taxes, for premises owned by the principal or occupied by those individuals.

(4) Provide normal domestic help, usual vacations and travel expenses, and funds for shelter, clothing, food, appropriate education, including postsecondary and vocational education, and other current living costs for the individuals described in division (A)(1) of this section;

(5) Pay expenses for necessary health care and custodial care on behalf of the individuals described in division (A)(1) of this section;

(6) Act as the principal's personal representative pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1320d to 1320d-9 and applicable regulations in making decisions related to the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care consented to by the principal or anyone authorized under the law of this state to consent to health care on behalf of the principal;

(7) Continue any provision made by the principal for automobiles or other means of transportation, including registering, licensing, insuring, and replacing them, for the individuals described in division (A)(1) of this section;

(8) Maintain credit and debit accounts for the convenience of the individuals described in division (A)(1) of this section and open new accounts;

(9) Continue payments incidental to the membership or affiliation of the principal in a religious institution, club, society, order, or other organization or to continue contributions to those organizations.

(B) Authority with respect to personal and family maintenance is neither dependent upon, nor limited by, authority that an agent may or may not have with respect to gifts under sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code.

Section 1337.55 | Benefits from governmental programs or civil or military service.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "benefits from governmental programs or civil or military service" means any benefit, program, or assistance provided under a statute or regulation, including social security, medicare, and medicaid.

(B) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to benefits from governmental programs or civil or military service authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(1) Execute vouchers in the name of the principal for allowances and reimbursements payable by the United States or a foreign government or by a state or subdivision of a state to the principal, including allowances and reimbursements for transportation of the individuals described in division (A)(1) of section 1337.54 of the Revised Code, and for shipment of their household effects;

(2) Take possession and order the removal and shipment of property of the principal from a post, warehouse, depot, dock, or other place of storage or safekeeping, either governmental or private, and execute and deliver a release, voucher, receipt, bill of lading, shipping ticket, certificate, or other instrument for that purpose;

(3) Enroll in, apply for, select, reject, change, amend, or discontinue, on the principal's behalf, a benefit or program;

(4) Prepare, file, and maintain a claim of the principal for a benefit or assistance, financial or otherwise, to which the principal may be entitled under a statute or regulation;

(5) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation concerning any benefit or assistance the principal may be entitled to receive under a statute or regulation;

(6) Receive the financial proceeds of a claim described in division (B)(4) of this section and conserve, invest, disburse, or use for a lawful purpose anything so received.

Section 1337.56 | Retirement plans.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "retirement plan" means a plan or account created by an employer, the principal, or another individual to provide retirement benefits or deferred compensation of which the principal is a participant, beneficiary, or owner, including any of the following plans or accounts:

(1) An individual retirement account under section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 408;

(2) A Roth individual retirement account under section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 408A;

(3) A deemed individual retirement account under section 408(q) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 408(q);

(4) An annuity or mutual fund custodial account under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 403(b);

(5) A pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, or other retirement plan qualified under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 401(a);

(6) A plan under section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 457(b);

(7) A nonqualified deferred compensation plan under section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 409A.

(B) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to retirement plans authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(1) Select the form and timing of payments under a retirement plan and withdraw benefits from a plan;

(2) Make a rollover, including a direct trustee-to-trustee rollover, of benefits from one retirement plan to another;

(3) Establish a retirement plan in the principal's name;

(4) Make contributions to a retirement plan;

(5) Exercise investment powers available under a retirement plan;

(6) Borrow from, sell assets to, or purchase assets from a retirement plan.

Section 1337.57 | Taxes.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to taxes authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Prepare, sign, and file federal, state, local, and foreign income, gift, payroll, property, Federal Insurance Contributions Act, and other tax returns, claims for refunds, requests for extension of time, petitions regarding tax matters, and any other tax-related documents, including receipts, offers, waivers, consents, including consents and agreements under section 2032A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 2032A, closing agreements, and any power of attorney required by the internal revenue service or other taxing authority with respect to a tax year upon which the statute of limitations has not run and the following twenty-five tax years;

(B) Pay taxes due, collect refunds, post bonds, receive confidential information, and contest deficiencies determined by the internal revenue service or other taxing authority;

(C) Exercise any election available to the principal under federal, state, local, or foreign tax law;

(D) Act for the principal in all tax matters for all periods before the internal revenue service, or other taxing authority.

Section 1337.571 | Digital assets.

• Effective: April 6, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 432 - 131st General Assembly

Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to digital assets causes the agent to be an authorized user for the purpose of applicable computer fraud and unauthorized computer access laws and authorizes the agent to do all of the following:

(A) Have access to any catalogue of electronic communications sent or received by the principal;

(B) Have access to any other digital asset in which the principal has a right or interest;

(C) Have the right to access any of the principal's tangible personal property capable of receiving, storing, processing, or sending a digital asset;

(D) Take any action concerning the asset to the extent of the account holder's authority;

(E) Have access to the content of electronic communications sent or received by the principal.

Section 1337.58 | Gifts.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, a gift "for the benefit of" a person includes a gift to a trust, an account under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, and a tuition savings account or prepaid tuition plan as defined under section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 529.

(B) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to gifts authorizes the agent to do only the following:

(1) Make outright to, or for the benefit of, a person, a gift of any of the principal's property, including by the exercise of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the principal, in an amount per donee not to exceed the annual dollar limits of the federal gift tax exclusion under section 2503(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 2503(b), without regard to whether the federal gift tax exclusion applies to the gift, or if the principal's spouse agrees to consent to a split gift pursuant to section 2513 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 2513, in an amount per donee not to exceed twice the annual federal gift tax exclusion limit;

(2) Consent, pursuant to section 2513 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 2513, to the splitting of a gift made by the principal's spouse in an amount per donee not to exceed the aggregate annual gift tax exclusions for both spouses.

(C) An agent may make a gift of the principal's property, outright or by amending, creating, or funding a trust, only as the agent determines is consistent with the principal's objectives if actually known by the agent and, if unknown, as the agent determines is consistent with the principal's best interest based on all relevant factors, including all of the following:

(1) The value and nature of the principal's property;

(2) The principal's foreseeable obligations and need for maintenance;

(3) Minimization of taxes, including income, estate, inheritance, generation-skipping transfer, and gift taxes;

(4) Eligibility for a benefit, a program, or assistance under a statute or regulation;

(5) The principal's personal history of making or joining in making gifts.

Section 1337.59 | Construction under former law.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

In a power of attorney executed on or after March 29, 2006, and before the effective date of this section that either uses the statutory power of attorney form contained in former section 1337.18 of the Revised Code or that incorporates by reference any one or more of the powers contained in former section 1337.20 of the Revised Code, the powers granted shall be construed in accordance with former section 1337.20 of the Revised Code.

Section 1337.60 | Statutory form power of attorney.

• Effective: April 6, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 432 - 131st General Assembly

A document substantially in the following form may be used to create a statutory form power of attorney that has the meaning and effect prescribed by sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code.

[INSERT NAME OF JURISDICTION]

STATUTORY FORM POWER OF ATTORNEY

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This power of attorney authorizes another person (your agent) to make decisions concerning your property for you (the principal). Your agent will be able to make decisions and act with respect to your property (including your money) whether or not you are able to act for yourself. The meaning of authority over subjects listed on this form is explained in the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code).

This power of attorney does not authorize the agent to make health-care decisions for you.

You should select someone you trust to serve as your agent. Unless you specify otherwise, generally the agent's authority will continue until you die or revoke the power of attorney or the agent resigns or is unable to act for you.

Your agent is entitled to reasonable compensation unless you state otherwise in the Special Instructions.

This form provides for designation of one agent. If you wish to name more than one agent you may name a coagent in the Special Instructions. Coagents are not required to act together unless you include that requirement in the Special Instructions.

If your agent is unable or unwilling to act for you, your power of attorney will end unless you have named a successor agent. You may also name a second successor agent.

This power of attorney becomes effective immediately unless you state otherwise in the Special Instructions.

ACTIONS REQUIRING EXPRESS AUTHORITY

Unless expressly authorized and initialed by me in the Special Instructions, this power of attorney does not grant authority to my agent to do any of the following:

(1) Create a trust;

(2) Amend, revoke, or terminate an inter vivos trust, even if specific authority to do so is granted to the agent in the trust agreement;

(3) Make a gift;

(4) Create or change rights of survivorship;

(5) Create or change a beneficiary designation;

(6) Delegate authority granted under the power of attorney;

(7) Waive the principal's right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan;

(8) Exercise fiduciary powers that the principal has authority to delegate.

CAUTION: Granting any of the above eight powers will give your agent the authority to take actions that could significantly reduce your property or change how your property is distributed at your death.

If you have questions about the power of attorney or the authority you are granting to your agent, you should seek legal advice before signing this form.

DESIGNATION OF AGENT

I, _____________________________________ (Name of Principal) name the following person as my agent:

Name of Agent:

________________________________________________________________

Agent's Address:

________________________________________________________________

Agent's Telephone Number:

________________________________________________________________

DESIGNATION OF SUCCESSOR AGENT(S) (OPTIONAL)

If my agent is unable or unwilling to act for me, I name as my successor agent:

Name of Successor Agent:

________________________________________________________________

Successor Agent's Address:

________________________________________________________________

Successor Agent's Telephone Number:

________________________________________________________________

If my successor agent is unable or unwilling to act for me, I name as my second successor agent:

Name of Second Successor Agent:

________________________________________________________________

Second Successor Agent's Address:

________________________________________________________________

Second Successor Agent's Telephone Number:

________________________________________________________________

GRANT OF GENERAL AUTHORITY

I grant my agent and any successor agent general authority to act for me with respect to the following subjects as defined in the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code):

(INITIAL each subject you want to include in the agent's general authority. If you wish to grant general authority over all of the subjects you may initial "All Preceding Subjects" instead of initialing each subject.)

(___) Real Property

(___) Tangible Personal Property

(___) Stocks and Bonds

(___) Commodities and Options

(___) Banks and Other Financial Institutions

(___) Operation of Entity or Business

(___) Insurance and Annuities

(___) Estates, Trusts, and Other Beneficial Interests

(___) Claims and Litigation

(___) Personal and Family Maintenance

(___) Benefits from Governmental Programs or Civil or Military Service

(___) Retirement Plans

(___) Taxes

(___) Digital Assets

(___) All Preceding Subjects

(___) My agent shall have access to the content of electronic communications sent or received by me.

LIMITATION ON AGENT'S AUTHORITY

An agent that is not my ancestor, spouse, or descendant MAY NOT use my property to benefit the agent or a person to whom the agent owes an obligation of support unless I have included that authority in the Special Instructions.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS (OPTIONAL)

You may give special instructions on the following lines:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

EFFECTIVE DATE

This power of attorney is effective immediately unless I have stated otherwise in the Special Instructions.

NOMINATION OF GUARDIAN (OPTIONAL)

If it becomes necessary for a court to appoint a guardian of my estate or my person, I nominate the following person(s) for appointment:

Name of Nominee for guardian of my estate:

________________________________________________________________

Nominee's Address:

________________________________________________________________

Nominee's Telephone Number:

________________________________________________________________

Name of Nominee for guardian of my estate:

________________________________________________________________

Nominee's Address:

________________________________________________________________

Nominee's Telephone Number:

________________________________________________________________

RELIANCE ON THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY

Any person, including my agent, may rely upon the validity of this power of attorney or a copy of it unless that person knows it has terminated or is invalid.

SIGNATURE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

______________________________ ____________________________

Your Signature Date

________________________________________________________________

Your Name Printed

________________________________________________________________

Your Address

________________________________________________________________

Your Telephone Number

State of Ohio

County of __________________________

This document was acknowledged before me on ____________________ (Date), by __________________________ (Name of Principal).

___________________________

Signature of Notary

My commission expires:

__________________________________

This document prepared by:

__________________________________

__________________________________

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR AGENT

Agent's Duties

When you accept the authority granted under this power of attorney, a special legal relationship is created between you and the principal. This relationship imposes upon you legal duties that continue until you resign or the power of attorney is terminated or revoked. You must:

(1) Do what you know the principal reasonably expects you to do with the principal's property or, if you do not know the principal's expectations, act in the principal's best interest;

(2) Act in good faith;

(3) Do nothing beyond the authority granted in this power of attorney;

(4) Attempt to preserve the principal's estate plan if you know the plan and preserving the plan is consistent with the principal's best interest;

(5) Disclose your identity as an agent whenever you act for the principal by writing or printing the name of the principal and signing your own name as "agent" in the following manner:

(Principal's Name) by (Your Signature) as Agent

Unless the Special Instructions in this power of attorney state otherwise, you must also:

(1) Act loyally for the principal's benefit;

(2) Avoid conflicts that would impair your ability to act in the principal's best interest;

(3) Act with care, competence, and diligence;

(4) Keep a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions made on behalf of the principal;

(5) Cooperate with any person that has authority to make health-care decisions for the principal to do what you know the principal reasonably expects or, if you do not know the principal's expectations, to act in the principal's best interest.

Termination of Agent's Authority

You must stop acting on behalf of the principal if you learn of any event that terminates this power of attorney or your authority under this power of attorney. Events that terminate a power of attorney or your authority to act under a power of attorney include:

(1) The death of the principal;

(2) The principal's revocation of the power of attorney or your authority;

(3) The occurrence of a termination event stated in the power of attorney;

(4) The purpose of the power of attorney is fully accomplished;

(5) If you are married to the principal, a legal action is filed with a court to end your marriage, or for your legal separation, unless the Special Instructions in this power of attorney state that such an action will not terminate your authority.

Liability of Agent

The meaning of the authority granted to you is defined in the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code). If you violate the Uniform Power of Attorney Act or act outside the authority granted, you may be liable for any damages caused by your violation.

If there is anything about this document or your duties that you do not understand, you should seek legal advice.

Section 1337.61 | Agent's certification.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

The following optional form may be used by an agent to certify facts concerning a power of attorney.

AGENT'S CERTIFICATION AS TO THE VALIDITY OF POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AGENT'S AUTHORITY

State of Ohio

County of _____________________

I, _________________________________________ (Name of Agent), certify under penalty of perjury that _____________________________ (Name of Principal) granted me authority as an agent or successor agent in a power of attorney dated ________________________________

I further certify that to my knowledge:

(1) The Principal is alive and has not revoked the Power of Attorney or my authority to act under the Power of Attorney and the Power of Attorney and my authority to act under the Power of Attorney have not terminated;

(2) If the Power of Attorney was drafted to become effective upon the happening of an event or contingency, the event or contingency has occurred;

(3) If I was named as a successor agent, the prior agent is no longer able or willing to serve;

(4)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Insert other relevant statements).

SIGNATURE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

___________________________________

Agent's Signature

___________________________________

Date

________________________________________________________________

Agent's Name Printed

________________________________________________________________

Agent's Address

________________________________________________________________

Agent's Telephone Number

State of Ohio

County of __________________________

This document was acknowledged before me on______________________,(Date) by _______________________

(Name of Agent).

________________________________

Signature of Notary

My commission expires:

_________________________________

This document prepared by:

_________________________________

_________________________________

Section 1337.62 | Uniformity of application and construction.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

In applying and construing sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code, consideration shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among the states that enact it.

Section 1337.63 | Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code modify, limit, and supersede the "Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act," 15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq., with the exception of section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. 7001(c). Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code do not authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. 7003(b).

Section 1337.64 | Effect on existing powers of attorney.

• Effective: March 22, 2012
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 117 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Except as otherwise provided in sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code, on the effective date of this section, those sections apply to all of the following:

(1) A power of attorney created before, on, or after the effective date of this section;

(2) A judicial proceeding concerning a power of attorney commenced on or after the effective date of this section;

(3) A judicial proceeding concerning a power of attorney commenced before the effective date of this section, unless the court finds that application of a provision of sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code would substantially interfere with the effective conduct of the judicial proceeding or prejudice the rights of a party, in which case that provision does not apply and the superseded law applies.

(B) Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64 of the Revised Code do not affect an act done before the effective date of this section.