Bill Text: IL HB4462 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Power of Attorney Act. Deletes two reasons for which it is deemed reasonable cause for a third party to refuse to honor a power of attorney for property: (i) the refusal by the agent to provide a copy of the original document that is certified to be valid by an attorney, a court order, or governmental entity; and (ii) the refusal of the principal's attorney to provide a certificate that the power of attorney is valid.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)

Status: (Enrolled) 2026-06-18 - Sent to the Governor [HB4462 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB4462-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Power of Attorney Act is amended
by changing Section 2-8 as follows:
(755 ILCS 45/2-8) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 802-8)
Sec. 2-8. Reliance on document purporting to establish an
agency.
(a) Any person who acts in good faith reliance on a copy of
a document purporting to establish an agency will be fully
protected and released to the same extent as though the
reliant had dealt directly with the named principal as a
fully-competent person. The named agent shall furnish an
affidavit or Agent's Certification and Acceptance of Authority
to the reliant on demand stating that the instrument relied on
is a true copy of the agency and that, to the best of the named
agent's knowledge, the named principal is alive and the
relevant powers of the named agent have not been altered or
terminated; but good faith reliance on a document purporting
to establish an agency will protect the reliant without the
affidavit or Agent's Certification and Acceptance of
Authority.
(b) Upon request, the named agent in a power of attorney

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shall furnish an Agent's Certification and Acceptance of
Authority to the reliant in substantially the following form:
AGENT'S CERTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF AUTHORITY
I, .......... (insert name of agent), certify that the
attached is a true copy of a power of attorney naming the
undersigned as agent or successor agent for .............
(insert name of principal).
I certify that to the best of my knowledge the principal
had the capacity to execute the power of attorney, is alive,
and has not revoked the power of attorney; that my powers as
agent have not been altered or terminated; and that the power
of attorney remains in full force and effect.
I accept appointment as agent under this power of
attorney.
This certification and acceptance is made under penalty of
perjury.*
Dated: ............
.......................
(Agent's Signature)
.......................
(Print Agent's Name)
.......................
(Agent's Address)
*(NOTE: Perjury is defined in Section 32-2 of the Criminal

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Code of 2012, and is a Class 3 felony.)
(c) Any person dealing with an agent named in a copy of a
document purporting to establish an agency may presume, in the
absence of actual knowledge to the contrary, that the document
purporting to establish the agency was validly executed, that
the agency was validly established, that the named principal
was competent at the time of execution, and that, at the time
of reliance, the named principal is alive, the agency was
validly established and has not terminated or been amended,
the relevant powers of the named agent were properly and
validly granted and have not terminated or been amended, and
the acts of the named agent conform to the standards of this
Act. No person relying on a copy of a document purporting to
establish an agency shall be required to see to the
application of any property delivered to or controlled by the
named agent or to question the authority of the named agent.
(d) Each person to whom a direction by the named agent in
accordance with the terms of the copy of the document
purporting to establish an agency is communicated shall comply
with that direction, and any person who fails to comply
arbitrarily or without reasonable cause shall be subject to
civil liability for any damages resulting from noncompliance.
A health care provider who complies with Section 4-7 shall not
be deemed to have acted arbitrarily or without reasonable
cause.

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(e) Unreasonable cause to refuse to honor. It shall be
deemed unreasonable for a third party to refuse to honor an
Illinois statutory short form power of attorney for property
properly executed in accordance with the laws in effect at the
time of its execution, if the only reason for the refusal is
any of or more than one of the following: (1) the power of
attorney is not on a form the third party receiving such power
prescribes, regardless of any form the terms of any account
agreement between the principal and third party requires; (2)
there has been a lapse of time since the execution of the power
of attorney; (3) on the face of the statutory short form power
of attorney, there is a lapse of time between the date of
acknowledgment of the signature of the principal and the date
of the acceptance by the agent; (4) the document provided does
not bear an original signature, original witness, or original
notarization but is accompanied by a properly executed Agent's
Certification and Acceptance of Authority, Successor Agent's
Certification and Acceptance of Authority, or Co-Agent's
Certification and Acceptance of Authority bearing the original
signature of the named agent; or (5) the document appoints an
entity as the agent. Nothing in this Section shall be
interpreted as prohibiting or limiting a third party from
requiring the named agent to furnish a properly executed
Agent's Certification and Acceptance of Authority, Successor
Agent's Certification and Acceptance of Authority, or
Co-Agent's Certification and Acceptance of Authority under

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this Act.
(f) Reasonable cause to refuse to honor. Reasons for which
it shall be deemed reasonable cause for a third party to refuse
to honor a power of attorney for property include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1) the refusal by the agent to provide an affidavit
or properly executed Agent's Certification and Acceptance
of Authority, Successor Agent's Certification and
Acceptance of Authority, or Co-Agent's Certification and
Acceptance of Authority;
(2) (blank); the refusal by the agent to provide a
copy of the original document that is certified to be
valid by an attorney, a court order, or governmental
entity;
(3) the person's good faith referral of the principal
and the agent or a person acting for or with the agent to
the local adult protective services unit;
(4) actual knowledge or a reasonable basis for
believing in the existence of a report having been made by
any person to the local adult protective services unit
alleging physical or financial abuse, neglect,
exploitation, or abandonment of the principal by the agent
or a person acting for the agent;
(5) actual knowledge of the principal's death or a
reasonable basis for believing the principal has died;
(6) actual knowledge of the incapacity of the

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principal or a reasonable basis for believing the
principal is incapacitated if the power of attorney
tendered is a nondurable power of attorney;
(7) actual knowledge or a reasonable basis for
believing that the principal was incapacitated at the time
the power of attorney was executed;
(8) actual knowledge or a reasonable basis for
believing: (A) the power of attorney was procured through
fraud, duress, or undue influence, or (B) the agent is
engaged in fraud or abuse of the principal;
(9) actual notice of the termination or revocation of
the power of attorney or a reasonable basis for believing
that the power of attorney has been terminated or revoked;
(10) the refusal by a title insurance company to
underwrite title insurance for a gift of real property
made pursuant to a statutory short form power of attorney
that does not contain express instructions or purposes of
the principal with respect to gifts in paragraph 3 of the
statutory short form power of attorney;
(11) (blank); the refusal of the principal's attorney
to provide a certificate that the power of attorney is
valid;
(12) a missing or incorrect signature, an invalid
notarization, or an unacceptable power of attorney
identification;
(13) the third party: (A) has filed a suspicious

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activity report as described by 31 U.S.C. 5318(g) with
respect to the principal or agent; (B) believes in good
faith that the principal or agent has a prior criminal
history involving financial crimes; or (C) has had a
previous, unsatisfactory business relationship with the
agent due to or resulting in material loss to the third
party, financial mismanagement by the agent, or litigation
between the third party and the agent alleging substantial
damages; or
(14) the third party has reasonable cause to suspect
the abuse, abandonment, neglect, or financial exploitation
of the principal, if the principal is an eligible adult
under the Adult Protective Services Act.
(Source: P.A. 103-994, eff. 1-1-25.)