Power of Attorney in North Carolina

North Carolina provides an optional 'North Carolina Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney.' A power of attorney must be signed by the principal (or by another person in the principal's conscious presence and at their direction) and acknowledged; acknowledgment before a notary makes the signature presumed genuine. The statute does not require witnesses. A power of attorney is durable (survives incapacity) unless it expressly says otherwise.

A health care power of attorney must be signed in front of two qualified witnesses and acknowledged before a notary. A living will ('Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death') must also be signed in front of two qualified witnesses and proved before a notary or clerk of superior court. Witnesses cannot be related within the third degree to the person or their spouse, expect to inherit, have a claim against the estate, or be the attending physician or a paid employee of the physician or the person's health facility, nursing home or adult care home. Optional statutory forms exist for both.

North Carolina has a statutory form for a financial power of attorney: the "North Carolina Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney" in G.S. 32C-3-301, an optional form that the principal signs and dates before a notary, who completes the acknowledgment. For health care, G.S. 32A-25.1 provides a statutory "Health Care Power of Attorney" form; the principal's signature must be witnessed by two qualified witnesses and proved by a notary public, and the form says not to sign until two witnesses and a notary are present. Witnesses cannot be related to the principal by blood or marriage or be the principal's attending physician, among other listed exclusions.