Advanced Florida RON: Durable Powers of Attorney
10 challenging scenarios exploring durable powers of attorney signed through remote online notarization. Test your judgment on witness arrangements, agent authority, and the details that can change the outcome.
Results
You Passed! Your Superpower Is Knowing the Rules.
Witnesses accounted for. Fine print understood. Florida statutes successfully wrestled into submission.
Take a victory lap around the office. If anyone asks, tell them it’s continuing education.
Florida Statutes Won This Round.
Somewhere between the witnesses, the initials, and the superpowers, your brain opened a new tab and forgot why.
Review the explanations, grab a coffee, and try again. Your comeback requires no separate initials.
#1. A Florida-domiciled principal executes a new electronic DPOA authorizing gifts and beneficiary changes. The principal separately initials both provisions, but both witnesses attend remotely. Can this execution grant those powers?
Incorrect answer feedback: Gifting and beneficiary changes are “superpowers.” A DPOA executed by a Florida-domiciled principal with a remote witness cannot grant them, even with separate initials. See F.S. §709.2202(1) and (6).
#2. A Florida-domiciled principal executes a new electronic DPOA with both witnesses physically present and the notary attending by RON. Can it grant properly signed or initialed “superpowers,” assuming all other requirements are satisfied?
The remote-witness restriction concerns the witnesses’ location, not the notary’s. Physical witnesses and a remote notary can satisfy these requirements. See F.S. §709.2202(1) and (6).
#3. A Florida-domiciled principal executes a new electronic DPOA with one physical witness and one remote witness. The principal separately initials authority to create a lifetime trust. Is that authority effective?
Trust creation is a “superpower.” Even one remote witness prevents this execution from granting it. See F.S. §709.2202(6).
#4. Both witnesses are physically present during a new DPOA’s RON execution. The principal signs at the end but does not separately sign or initial gifting, beneficiary-change, or survivorship provisions. What is the result?
Each enumerated “superpower” requires its own signature or initials. Physical witnesses do not eliminate that requirement. See F.S. §709.2202(1).
#5. A new electronic DPOA authorizes banking transactions, including account management and withdrawals. One witness is physical and one is remote. Must the additional safeguards concerning impairment, daily care, and the principal’s circumstances be followed?
Covered banking authority and fewer than two physical witnesses trigger provider screening, a written warning, and additional notary questions. See F.S. §117.285(5).
#6. A principal will sign a banking DPOA with remote witnesses. Who handles the three preliminary questions about impairment, daily-activity limitations, and assistance with daily care?
The RON service provider must require the principal to answer questions about decision-making impairment from drugs or alcohol, conditions affecting normal daily activities, and assistance with daily care. Any “yes” prevents proceeding with remote witnesses. The provider must give the written vulnerable-adult warning after the answers are submitted, including when all answers are “no.” The notary cannot waive these safeguards. See F.S. §117.285(5)(a)–(c).
#7. Both witnesses are physically with the principal during a banking DPOA’s RON execution. Which statement is correct?
Physical witnesses use the recorded name-and-address procedure. Two physical witnesses exempt the execution from subsection (5). See F.S. §117.285(2) and (5)(k).
#8. A Florida resident joins as a remote witness from Canada. May that person witness an electronic DPOA under Florida’s remote-witnessing requirements?
Actual vulnerable-adult status controls. Negative answers do not make remote witnessing effective. See F.S. §117.285(5)(g).
#9. Before a banking DPOA can be signed with remote witnesses, the platform asks the principal the three required screening questions. The principal answers “yes” to needing assistance with daily care. What must happen next?
A “yes” to any of the three screening questions prevents the execution from proceeding with remote witnesses. The witnesses must be physically with the principal when the principal signs. Passing identity verification, receiving the warning, or obtaining the notary’s approval does not permit the remote-witnessing process to continue. See F.S. §117.285(5)(a)–(c).
#10. A DPOA gives an agent sufficient authority to withdraw money from the principal’s bank accounts. One account names a payable-on-death beneficiary who will receive the remaining funds when the principal dies. Does withdrawing money from that account itself require separately signed or initialed authority to change beneficiary designations?
Withdrawing money changes the account balance; it does not change who is named as the payable-on-death beneficiary. Florida law expressly permits an otherwise authorized withdrawal without additional beneficiary-change authority. Actually replacing the beneficiary is a separate action requiring the applicable “superpower” authorization. The agent must still comply with fiduciary duties when making withdrawals. See F.S. §709.2202(5).