Ohio Uniform Power of Attorney Act

A bill seeking to adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in Ohio was introduced in its Senate last week.

Ohio power of attorney statutes came into being around 1831 with the advent of other "proof/acknowledgment/written instrument and reecording" statutes, and are now largely found in ORC Chapter 1337. Kentucky and Indiana have comparable legislation.

The new bill would "adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act; modify a trustee's duties with respect to life insurance policies, specify a trustee's power to distribute trust principal in further trust, provide for the titling of assets in trust form, and make other changes in the Trust Code; modify the anti-lapse provisions regarding wills and adopt anti-lapse provisions applicable to trusts; and to provide a mechanism for a probate court to order a person who suffers from alcohol and other drug abuse to undergo treatment.