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Updated October 22, 2026. Statute text read on nysenate.gov

New York power of attorney revocation

Updated October 22, 2026

General Obligations Law 5-1511 says a principal can revoke by delivering a revocation to the agent in person, or by sending a signed and dated revocation by mail, courier, electronic transmission or facsimile to the agent's last known address. A revocation is not effective against the agent until the agent has received it, and not against a third party without actual notice. If the power of attorney was recorded, Real Property Law 326 requires the revocation to be recorded in the same office. This page reports the law as written. It is information, not legal advice.

5-1511
The General Obligations Law section on termination and revocation
Same office
Where a revocation of a recorded power of attorney is recorded (RPL 326)

New York State Senate, GOL 5-1511 and Real Property Law 326, read Oct 22, 2026. See source

An adult daughter hugs her smiling older parents at their kitchen table.
On this page
  1. Key facts
  2. What General Obligations Law 5-1511 provides
  3. Who a revocation reaches, and when, under subd...
  4. Recorded powers of attorney: Real Property Law...
  5. When a court is involved: General Obligations...
  6. The statute's delivery routes, in the order th...
  7. New York revocation questions
  8. Power of attorney documents from online services
  9. Sources

Key facts

  • How the statute says a principal revokes. By following the document's own terms, or by delivering a revocation 'to the agent in person', or by 'sending a signed and dated revocation by mail, courier, electronic transmission or facsimile' to the agent's last known address1.
  • When it binds the agent. A termination 'is not effective as to the agent until the agent has received a revocation'. Delivery in person counts as receipt; mailed or electronic notice counts as received within a reasonable time after sending1.
  • When it binds a bank or other third party. A termination is 'not effective as to any third party who has not received actual notice of the termination'. A financial institution 'is deemed to have actual notice' after a reasonable opportunity to act on written notice at the office where the account is held1.
  • Recorded powers of attorney. One recorded under Real Property Law 294 is 'not deemed revoked by any act of the party by whom it was executed' unless the revocation is recorded in the same office13.
  • A new power of attorney does not revoke an old one. 'The execution of a power of attorney does not revoke any power of attorney previously executed by the principal'1.

What General Obligations Law 5-1511 provides

Title 15 of Article 5 of the General Obligations Law runs from section 5-1501 to section 5-1513 on the State Senate's site (a page for 5-1514 returns 'The requested entry could not be found')6. The New York courts' Ask a Law Librarian service, on a page last updated May 29, 2026, says 'Termination and revocation procedure is described in General Obligations Law Section 1511' and does not give its own steps5. Section 5-1511 is titled 'Termination or revocation of power of attorney; notice'1.

Subdivision 1 lists when a power of attorney terminates. It opens 'A power of attorney terminates when:' and includes the death of the principal and 'a court order revokes the power of attorney as provided in section 5-1510 of this title'1. In our words, it also covers revocation by the principal and the other grounds the section lists; read the section for the full list.

Subdivision 2 deals with an agent's authority. It ends when the principal revokes, and it includes the ground that 'the agent's marriage to the principal is terminated by divorce or annulment', with an exception where the document says otherwise1.

Subdivision 3 is the revocation method. The principal can revoke in the way the document itself provides, or deliver the revocation to the agent in person, or send it by mail, courier, electronic transmission or facsimile to the agent's last known address. In our words, the section also says the agent must comply even where the principal's capacity is in doubt, unless the principal is under an Article 81 guardianship1.

Subdivision 6 adds that signing a new power of attorney does not by itself revoke an earlier one1. A document that is meant to replace an earlier one therefore has to say so or be paired with a revocation. Whether a particular document does is a question for a lawyer, not this page.

Who a revocation reaches, and when, under subdivision 5

WhoWhat the statute saysWhat it means in our words
The agent1A termination 'is not effective as to the agent until the agent has received a revocation'Receipt is the trigger. In-person delivery counts as receipt; mailed or electronic notice counts as received within a reasonable time after sending
A bank or other financial institution1'A financial institution is deemed to have actual notice' after a reasonable opportunity to act on written noticeThe notice goes to the office where the account is held; until then the institution is treated as having no actual notice
Any other third party1A termination is 'not effective as to any third party who has not received actual notice of the termination'A person who acts in good faith without actual notice is protected, and the principal and successors are bound by what that person did
SourceGOL 5-1511 subdivision 5Read Oct 22, 2026Our description of the sectionRead Oct 22, 2026

The right column is our plain-language description of the statute, not a quotation.

Recorded powers of attorney: Real Property Law 294 and 326

Real Property Law 294 lets an instrument containing a power to convey real property be recorded if it is 'acknowledged or proved, and certified' as a recorded conveyance must be, in the office of the recording officer of a county where the property is located4.

Real Property Law 326, titled 'Revocation to be recorded', says a recorded power 'is not deemed revoked by any act of the party by whom it was executed' unless the revocation is 'recorded in the same office in which the instrument containing the power was recorded'3. General Obligations Law 5-1511 subdivision 4 refers to both sections and to the State Technology Law for the form of the revocation1.

The statutes do not tell a reader which of these steps a particular power of attorney needs. Whether yours was recorded is a fact about your own document.

When a court is involved: General Obligations Law 5-1510

Section 5-1510, 'Special proceedings', lists who may begin a proceeding about a power of attorney, including the agent and the principal's spouse, child or parent, and covers a proceeding 'to remove the agent upon the grounds that the agent has violated' the agent's fiduciary duties2. Where a power of attorney 'is suspended or revoked under this section', the court may require the agent to provide records and deliver property2. The text we read refers to 'the court' without naming which court2.

A court order is one of the grounds on which 5-1511 says a power of attorney terminates1. Court procedure, fees and forms are outside this page; the Unified Court System's pages and a New York lawyer are the sources for those.

The statute's delivery routes, in the order the section gives them

  1. Step 1

    The document's own terms

    Subdivision 3 first allows revocation by following the terms of the power of attorney itself. Check the document for a revocation clause1.

  2. Step 2

    Deliver to the agent in person

    The section counts in-person delivery as receipt by the agent1.

  3. Step 3

    Or send a signed and dated revocation

    By mail, courier, electronic transmission or facsimile to the agent's last known address; receipt is treated as within a reasonable time after sending1.

  4. Step 4

    Written notice to a financial institution

    The statute treats an institution as having actual notice after a reasonable opportunity to act on written notice at the office where the account is held1.

  5. Step 5

    Recording, where the original was recorded

    Real Property Law 326 says the revocation must be recorded in the office where the power of attorney was recorded3.

New York revocation questions

Does New York require a notary or witnesses to revoke a power of attorney?

Section 5-1511 subdivision 3, as we read it on October 22, 2026, names delivery in person and a 'signed and dated' revocation sent by mail, courier, electronic transmission or facsimile; the part we read does not mention a notary or witnesses1. The execution rules in 5-1501B for creating a power of attorney are on our New York requirements page. Whether a lender or title company will want more is that company's rule, not the statute's.

What if the power of attorney was recorded with a county?

Real Property Law 326 says it 'is not deemed revoked by any act of the party by whom it was executed' unless the revocation is recorded 'in the same office' where the power was recorded3.

Is a revocation effective as soon as it is signed?

Not against the agent: a termination 'is not effective as to the agent until the agent has received a revocation'1. Not against a third party who has had no actual notice1.

Does making a new power of attorney cancel the old one?

Subdivision 6 says 'The execution of a power of attorney does not revoke any power of attorney previously executed by the principal'1.

Does a divorce end an ex-spouse's authority as agent?

Subdivision 2 lists the termination of the agent's marriage to the principal by divorce or annulment as a ground, unless the document says otherwise1. The section has further wording on remarriage; read it for the exact rule.

Is this legal advice?

No. It reports what the statutes and the courts' library page say on the date read. For a particular document, speak to a lawyer licensed in New York.

Power of attorney documents from online services

These services sell new documents. A new document does not by itself revoke an earlier one (see subdivision 6 above).

Good for a financial power of attorney from online questions

LegalZoom

Listed price
Basic $39, Premium $49
Checked
Oct 6, 2026
See LegalZoom plans

Good for a power of attorney or revocation form built from a New York questionnaire

LawDepot

See LawDepot

Sources

  1. General Obligations Law 5-1511, Termination or revocation of power of attorney; noticeNew York State Senate, read Oct 22, 2026
  2. General Obligations Law 5-1510, Special proceedingsNew York State Senate, read Oct 22, 2026
  3. Real Property Law 326, Revocation to be recordedNew York State Senate, read Oct 22, 2026
  4. Real Property Law 294, Recording executory contracts and powers of attorneyNew York State Senate, read Oct 22, 2026
  5. What is a power of attorney? (Ask a Law Librarian, last updated May 29, 2026)New York State Unified Court System, read Oct 22, 2026
  6. General Obligations Law Article 5, Title 15 (sections 5-1501 to 5-1513)New York State Senate, read Oct 22, 2026

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