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Chapter 709 — Powers of Attorney

Florida Statute 709.2202

“Authority that requires separate signed enumeration”

What it means

Section 709.2202 lists powers an agent can exercise only if the principal signed or initialed next to each specific enumeration of the authority, the exercise is consistent with the agent's duties under s. 709.2114, and it is not prohibited by another agreement or instrument. They are: create an inter vivos trust; amend, modify, revoke or terminate the principal's trust (only if the trust instrument explicitly allows the settlor's agent to do so); make a gift; create or change rights of survivorship; create or change a beneficiary designation; waive the principal's right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity or retirement-plan survivor benefit; and disclaim property and powers of appointment.

Unless the document provides otherwise, an agent who is not an ancestor, spouse or descendant of the principal cannot use these powers to create an interest in the agent or in someone the agent must support. Unless it provides otherwise, general gift authority allows only gifts up to the federal annual gift tax exclusion per donee per year (twice that if the principal's spouse consents to gift splitting).

Deposits to and withdrawals from accounts held jointly or payable on death are not changes to survivorship or beneficiary features (subsection (5)). A Florida principal's power of attorney witnessed remotely by a witness not physically present does not grant the listed authorities (subsection (6)).

— What it says
  • The principal must sign or initial next to each specific enumeration of the listed authority (§ 709.2202(1)).
  • The list covers trusts, gifts, survivorship, beneficiary designations, joint and survivor annuity waivers, and disclaimers (§ 709.2202(1)(a)-(g)).
  • An agent may amend or revoke the principal's trust only if the trust instrument explicitly allows the settlor's agent to (§ 709.2202(1)(b)).
  • An agent who is not an ancestor, spouse or descendant cannot create an interest in the agent unless the document says otherwise (§ 709.2202(3)).
  • General gift authority is limited to the annual federal gift tax exclusion per donee unless the document provides otherwise (§ 709.2202(4)).
  • A remotely witnessed power of attorney by a Florida-domiciled principal grants none of the listed authorities (§ 709.2202(6)).

Text of the statute (2026)

§ 709.2202(1)
(1) Notwithstanding s. 709.2201, an agent may exercise the following authority only if the principal signed or initialed next to each specific enumeration of the authority, the exercise of the authority is consistent with the agent’s duties under s. 709.2114, and the exercise is not otherwise prohibited by another agreement or instrument: (a) Create an inter vivos trust; (b) With respect to a trust created by or on behalf of the principal, amend, modify, revoke, or terminate the trust, but only if the trust instrument explicitly provides for amendment, modification, revocation, or termination by the settlor’s agent; (c) Make a gift, subject to subsection (4); (d) Create or change rights of survivorship; (e) Create or change a beneficiary designation; (f) Waive the principal’s right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan; or (g) Disclaim property and powers of appointment.
§ 709.2202(3)
(3) Notwithstanding a grant of authority to do an act described in subsection (1), unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal may not exercise authority 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.
§ 709.2202(4)
(4) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a provision in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to gifts authorizes the agent to only: (a) 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 per calendar year not to exceed the annual dollar limits of the federal gift tax exclusion under 26 U.S.C. s. 2503(b), as amended, 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 26 U.S.C. s. 2513, as amended, in an amount per donee per calendar year not to exceed twice the annual federal gift tax exclusion limit; and (b) Consent, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s. 2513, as amended, to the splitting of a gift made by the principal’s spouse in an amount per donee per calendar year not to exceed the aggregate annual gift tax exclusions for both spouses.
§ 709.2202(5)
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if a power of attorney is otherwise sufficient to grant an agent authority to conduct banking transactions, as provided in s. 709.2208(1), conduct investment transactions as provided in s. 709.2208(2), or otherwise make additions to or withdrawals from an account of the principal, making a deposit to or withdrawal from an insurance policy, retirement account, individual retirement account, benefit plan, bank account, or any other account held jointly or otherwise held in survivorship or payable on death, is not considered to be a change to the survivorship feature or beneficiary designation, and no further specific authority is required for the agent to exercise such authority. A financial institution or broker-dealer does not have a duty to inquire as to the appropriateness of the agent’s exercise of that authority and is not liable to the principal or any other person for actions taken in good faith reliance on the appropriateness of the agent’s actions. This subsection does not eliminate the agent’s fiduciary duties to the principal with respect to any exercise of the power of attorney.
§ 709.2202(6)-(7)
(6) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and s. 709.2106(3), a power of attorney, executed by a principal domiciled in this state at the time of execution, that is witnessed remotely pursuant to s. 117.285 or other applicable law by a witness who is not in the physical presence of the principal is not effective to grant authority to an agent to take any of the actions enumerated in subsection (1). (7) This section does not apply to a power of attorney executed before October 1, 2011.

Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 709.2202.

History. s. 25, ch. 2011-210; s. 10, ch. 2013-90; s. 29, ch. 2019-71.

— In a Florida probate

How it applies

These authorities are not conveyed by a general grant, and a grant of one of them has to be matched by the principal's own signature or initials beside it. Without that, subsection (1) leaves the agent without the power even if the document otherwise appears to grant it.

Subsection (5) separates routine account activity from the listed authorities: making deposits to or withdrawals from joint, survivorship or payable-on-death accounts is not treated as a change of survivorship or beneficiary status. Subsection (7) states that the section does not apply to a power of attorney executed before October 1, 2011.

Questions people ask

Can my agent make gifts or change beneficiaries under a Florida power of attorney?
Only if you signed or initialed next to each of those specific powers. Florida Statute 709.2202(1) requires that for gifts, beneficiary changes, trust changes and survivorship changes. Unless the document says otherwise, general gift authority is limited to the annual federal gift tax exclusion per donee.

Sources

Last checked: October 17, 2026

The official text
This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the 2026 Florida Statutes — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.
Read § 709.2202

Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.

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