Can a Power of Attorney Make Gifts?

An agent under a power of attorney can pay your bills and manage your accounts, but giving your money away to someone else is a different matter entirely. In Washington, that power does not come automatically.

For related help, see estate-planning help, power-of-attorney guide, and Washington probate guide.

The Short Answer: Only If the Document Says So

If you are asking whether the person you named as your agent can hand out your money as gifts, the answer under Washington law is that they can, but only if your power of attorney expressly grants that authority. Gift-making is not part of the general bundle of powers an agent receives. It has to be spelled out.

Washington's Uniform Power of Attorney Act, chapter 11.125 RCW, treats certain powers as sensitive enough that a general grant of authority is not sufficient. RCW 11.125.240 lists these powers and requires an express grant for each one. Making a gift is on that list. So are creating or amending a trust, creating or changing rights of survivorship, and changing a beneficiary designation. These are sometimes called hot powers because they can redirect where your property ends up, which is why the law demands clear, specific authorization before an agent can exercise them.

Why the Law Requires an Express Grant

The reason for this rule becomes obvious once you think about what a gift really is. Paying your electric bill uses your money for your benefit. Giving ten thousand dollars to your agent's own child uses your money for someone else's benefit and permanently reduces what remains for you and your heirs. The potential for abuse is enormous, and gifts are one of the most common ways a dishonest agent drains a vulnerable person's accounts.

By requiring that gift authority be expressly stated, RCW 11.125.240 forces the question to be answered up front, by you, while you are clear-headed and in control. If your document is silent about gifts, an agent who makes them is acting outside their authority. That protects you, and it protects your family from watching an agent quietly give away an inheritance under the cover of a general power of attorney.

What "Express Authority" Actually Buys

Even when your power of attorney does grant gift-making authority, that grant is not a blank check. Under RCW 11.125.240, unless the document provides otherwise, a general grant of authority to make gifts is subject to the limits in RCW 11.125.390. That section sets a default ceiling tied to the federal gift tax exclusion.

In plain terms, RCW 11.125.390 provides that unless your power of attorney says otherwise, general gift authority lets the agent make gifts per recipient only up to the annual federal gift tax exclusion amount, or up to twice that amount if your spouse consents to split the gift under the federal rules. So even an agent with express gift authority is capped by default at that annual per-recipient figure, unless you deliberately wrote larger authority into the document.

The statute also builds in judgment requirements. Under RCW 11.125.390, an agent may make gifts only as is consistent with your known objectives, or if those are unknown, consistent with your best interest based on factors like the value and nature of your property, your foreseeable needs and obligations, tax considerations, eligibility for benefit programs, and your own history of making gifts. An agent cannot simply decide to be generous with your money on a whim. The gift has to fit the pattern of your life and your interests.

A Guardrail Against Self-Dealing

Washington adds another important protection. Under RCW 11.125.240, unless the power of attorney provides otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse, state registered domestic partner, or descendant may not use the power of attorney to create an interest in your property for the agent personally, or for someone the agent is legally obligated to support, whether by gift, right of survivorship, beneficiary change, or otherwise. This means a non-family agent generally cannot gift your assets to themselves even if the document grants gift authority, unless you specifically authorized that. It is a direct barrier against the classic power of attorney abuse of an agent enriching their own household.

What This Means When You Plan

For most people, the practical takeaway is that gift authority is a choice you should make deliberately, not something to leave to chance. Families who want an agent to be able to make holiday gifts, help grandchildren with tuition, or carry out an established pattern of charitable giving can include express gift authority tailored to those goals. Families who want no gifting at all can leave it out, knowing the law backs them up. And for those doing Medicaid or long-term care planning, gift authority interacts with other rules and deserves careful, individualized attention rather than boilerplate language.

The point is that the document controls. A power of attorney that is silent on gifts, or that grants gift authority without thought to the limits, can produce results that surprise everyone involved. Getting the language right the first time is far easier than untangling improper gifts later.

Plan Gift Authority With Care in Snohomish County

Whether an agent can make gifts, and how much, comes down to the words in your power of attorney and the default limits Washington law applies. If you want to give a trusted agent the ability to make gifts, or you want to be sure your current document does not allow gifts you never intended, the Law Office of Chad Foster helps Snohomish County families draft powers of attorney that say exactly what they mean. Reach out to review your document and set the right boundaries.