Power of Attorney in Arkansas

Arkansas follows the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. A power of attorney must be signed by the principal or by another person in the principal's conscious presence at their direction. Notarization is not required, but a signature acknowledged before a notary is presumed genuine. A power of attorney is durable unless it expressly says it ends when the principal becomes incapacitated.

Under the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act, an adult (or married or emancipated minor) can sign a written durable power of attorney for health care and other advance directives. An advance directive must be either notarized or witnessed by two competent adults; the agent cannot be a witness, and at least one witness must be unrelated and not entitled to any part of the estate. Unless the document says otherwise, the agent's authority begins when a physician determines the principal lacks capacity. A living will declaration under the Rights of the Terminally Ill or Permanently Unconscious Act may be signed by a person 18 or older of sound mind, with two witnesses or (for declarations signed on or after July 1, 2017) a notary; the statute provides sample forms.