Updated June 06, 2023
A California limited power of attorney is a legal form that confers a person’s authority (or “power”) regarding real estate and personal property to an agent for a specific period of time and/or event. The powers granted involve the sale, purchase, and/or maintenance of real or personal property. It is important that the person conveying the authority to act limits the authority to only the acts and time period desired.
Laws
Statutes – Probate Code Division 4.5. Powers of Attorney [4000 – 4545]
Authority (Prob. Code § 4262) – An attorney-in-fact who is granted limited (special) authority under a power of attorney can act with respect to permissible actions, subjects, or purposes as dictated by the agreement.
Signing Requirements (Prob. Code § 4121) – Two (2) Witnesses or Notary Public.
How to Write
1 – Setting Up This Form
Download the form through one of the three buttons below the image. This will provide the option of downloading the California Limited Power of Attorney Form as a PDF, ODT, or Word file. The Principal should read through this entire form before filling it out.
2 – Define The Recorder
The Recorder of this document is the party submitting it to the County Recorder’s Office. This individual should be documented in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Below the heading “Recording Requested By,” enter the Name of the individual causing the submission of this document.
Next, you must define where future mailings regarding this form should be sent. This may be done below the title “And When Recorded Mail To.” Use the spaces provided to report the Name, Address, City, State, Zip Code, and Apartment Number.
3 – Agent Acknowledgment
The Agent who will be assuming the authority granted by the Principal must read the “Notice To Person Accepting The Appointment As Attorney-in-Fact,” then provide some requested items below it.
The Agent must enter the Date of Signature on the blank space located in the lower left-hand space.
The Agent must provide his or her Signature and Printed Name on the two blank spaces in the lower right-hand corner of this page. This must be done in the presence of a Notary Public.
Just below the Disclosure labeled “Notice To Person Accepting The Appointment As Attorney-in-Fact” will be a notarization area which only a Notary Public overseeing this signing may satisfy. Make sure all the required items, the Notary Public’s Credentials, and Notarization Seal are provided here by this entity.
Next, the Agent must sign and print his or her Name on the two blank spaces labeled “Signature Of Agent” and “Print Name Of Agent.”
4 – Principal Statements
Next, under the words “To Whom It May Concern,” will be the required language for this form to be considered valid. This section will require some attention. First, the Full Name of the Principal must be supplied in the empty space between the words “I” and “(the principal)” on the first line of this section.
The next areas requiring attention are located in Item 3. First, report the Date this document becomes effective and grants power to the Attorney-in-Fact in the empty space after the phrase “…becoming effective on.” Also, define the Date this document will expire on in the empty space just after the phrase “…and terminating on”
Locate the statement introduced by the phrase “The Property affected…” The first blank line in this statement will require the City where the real property affected by this document is located. Then, report the County where the affected Real Property is located. Finally, in the empty space between “…known as” and “more particularly” report the how the Property is known (the Address).
Locate the page labeled “Exhibit A Legal Description,” on page four, then enter the official Legal Description of the affected real property.
The top of page three will contain a blank space (after the words “…special powers of attorney on”) and two blank lines in the upper right-hand corner. The Principal must enter the Date this document is being signed in the empty space after the words “…special power of attorney on” then, sign and print his or her Name. 
Below this will be an area for the Notary Public. No other entity may fill in this section or satisfy its requirements. Make sure it is presented (unaltered) to the attending Notary Public according to the instructions that entity provides.
