In ordinary sentences, power of attorney is not capitalized. You write it in lowercase the same way you’d write “will,” “trust,” or “deed.” Capital letters come in only when the phrase is doing a specific job: titling a document, heading a section, naming a statute, or standing in as a defined term inside a contract.
Lowercase Is the Default
Most uses of the phrase describe a general legal arrangement, and general concepts take lowercase. “She signed a power of attorney before the surgery” is correct. So is “a durable power of attorney covers decisions during incapacity.” The phrase does not name a unique entity the way “Supreme Court” or “First Amendment” does, so standard grammar treats it like any other common noun.
This holds whether you mean the piece of paper or the legal authority it grants. If you can replace the phrase with “contract” or “document” and the sentence still makes sense structurally, lowercase is almost certainly right.
When to Capitalize
Four situations call for capital letters.
Document Titles and Headings
At the top of the instrument itself, the words appear in title case to identify what the document is: “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care,” for example. Section headings inside a form follow the same convention. The IRS does this on Form 2848, officially titled “Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative,” with section headings like “Part I. Power of Attorney.” In the explanatory text beneath those headings, the IRS switches to lowercase, writing phrases like “using a power of attorney other than a Form 2848.”1IRS.gov. Instructions for Form 2848 That contrast is the rule in action: title case when the words function as a title, lowercase when they describe the concept.
Named Statutes
When the phrase is part of the formal name of a law, every significant word stays capitalized. The clearest example is the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, a model statute published by the Uniform Law Commission that sets out how agents must act in good faith and within the scope of authority granted.2Uniform Law Commission. Uniform Power of Attorney Act If the next sentence says “the act creates a durable power of attorney,” you’re back to describing the general concept and lowercase returns.
Defined Terms in Contracts
Legal contracts have their own capitalization logic. When a drafter designates “Power of Attorney” as a defined term near the top of a contract, it stays capitalized every time it appears in that document. The initial caps signal to the reader that the phrase points to the specific instrument described in the definitions section, not just any power of attorney that might exist. A contract that references both “the Power of Attorney” (defined) and “a power of attorney” (general concept) is using capitalization to keep the two apart.
Outside that contract, the defined-term capitalization has no force. An email summarizing the deal has no reason to capitalize the phrase just because the underlying agreement does.
Signature Blocks
In a formal signature block, the role functions as a title and gets capitalized: “Jane Smith, as Agent under Power of Attorney.” This mirrors the rule that capitalizes “President” before a name but lowercases “the president” in general text.
Agent and Attorney-in-Fact Follow the Same Logic
The people named in a power of attorney carry titles governed by the same rule. “Agent” and “attorney-in-fact” are lowercase in descriptive writing: “the agent must act in the principal’s best interest.” Federal regulations use “attorney-in-fact” in lowercase when discussing the role generally.3eCFR. 26 CFR 601.503 – Requirements of Power of Attorney, Signatures, Fiduciaries and Commissioners Authority to Substitute Other Requirements
Capital letters return when the word is a defined term in the document (“the Agent named herein”) or when it sits in a signature block as a title (“Catherine Zeta-Jones, as Agent for Michael Douglas”).
The Plural Is “Powers of Attorney”
The plural is “powers of attorney,” not “power of attorneys.” The core noun is “power,” so that’s the word that takes the plural, the same pattern you see in “attorneys general,” “courts martial,” and “mothers-in-law.” “Power of attorneys” shows up in casual writing but is grammatically wrong and looks careless in a professional document.
Capitalization rules carry over. Lowercase in running text: “she revoked both durable powers of attorney.” Title case in a heading: “Revocation of Powers of Attorney.”
What About POA?
The abbreviation “POA” is common in emails between attorneys, internal office memos, and casual legal shorthand. It’s fine in those contexts. In formal legal documents, court filings, and anything a client will sign, spell the phrase out. Some courts and financial institutions reject documents that use abbreviations in place of the full term.
When you do use the abbreviation, it’s always fully capitalized as an initialism. Not “Poa,” not “poa.” In a signature block, “under POA” is accepted shorthand when an agent signs on behalf of a principal.
Quick Reference
- Running text, general concept: lowercase. “She drafted a power of attorney last week.”
- Document title or heading: title case. “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.”
- Named statute: capitalized. “The Uniform Power of Attorney Act governs agent duties.”
- Defined term in a contract: capitalized throughout that document. “The Power of Attorney shall remain in effect until revoked.”
- Signature block: capitalized. “Jane Smith, as Agent under Power of Attorney.”
- Plural: “powers of attorney,” never “power of attorneys.”
- Abbreviation: “POA” in informal writing only, always in all caps.