How Do I Destroy My Power Of Attorney? I’M Worried My Agent May Show Up With A Copy And Deny I Destroyed It.

A Durable Power of Attorney is effective until revoked or terminated by a principal, by a court-appointed guardian, or by court order. A Power of Attorney that is recorded with the county auditor is revoked when a revocation is recorded in the same office where the original Power of Attorney was recorded.

Revoking a Power of Attorney

In order to revoke the Power of Attorney, you need to give notice to the person who has the Power of Attorney. The best way to do this is by having an attorney prepare a Revocation of the Power of Attorney, and then provide that to the person holding the Power of Attorney.

You should also provide the Revocation to any of your financial institutions. If the Power of Attorney is recorded, you will need to record the revocation. Even if the Power of Attorney is not recorded, it would be a good idea to record a revocation anyway.

Kristal M. Cowger, Attorney at Law
Blado Kiger Bolan, Tacoma, Wash.