Colorado Power of Attorney for a Minor Child

What a Minor POA Does in Colorado

Colorado law does not call it a "power of attorney for a minor child." The statute is C.R.S. § 15-14-105, and the official form is JDF 751 — Delegation of Power by Parent or Guardian. Despite the different label, it works the way most people expect a child POA to work: a parent or legal guardian signs a notarized form that gives a grandparent, aunt, uncle or family friend authority over delegated school, medical, dental and everyday decisions. Public-school admission still depends on the child's residency or other applicable enrollment rules.

The form is free on the Colorado Judicial Branch website. No court filing and no filing fee are required.

What Authority It Grants

A properly executed JDF 751 lets the designated relative:

• Handle delegated educational decisions and school enrollment paperwork, and access educational records (public-school admission still depends on residency or other applicable enrollment rules)
• Consent to medical exams, immunizations, dental cleanings, prescriptions and outpatient procedures
• Sign field trip permission slips, sports physicals and school medication forms
• Handle day-to-day care including housing, nutrition and recreation
• Manage minor property or financial matters belonging to the child

Two things a delegation cannot cover: marriage consent and adoption consent. Those are excluded by statute regardless of what the form says.

The Twelve-Month Limit

Every JDF 751 delegation expires on its stated end date and cannot be valid for more than twelve months from the date of the document — not six months, despite what some online guides claim. If the child still lives with the relative after it expires, the parent or guardian signs a fresh form and has it notarized again.

Repeated annual renewals do not create any form of legal guardianship. They simply restart the twelve-month clock.

How to Execute the Form

1. Download JDF 751 (and the companion instruction sheet JDF 750) from the Colorado Judicial Branch website.
2. The parent or guardian fills in the child's name, the Attorney-in-Fact's name and the date through which the delegation is effective.
3. The parent or guardian signs in front of a notary public or court clerk. Remote online notarization is legal in Colorado.
4. Keep the signed and notarized original, and give copies to the child's school, pediatrician, dentist and any other institution that needs to see it. The current JDF 751 has no separate acceptance page for the caregiver to sign.

If both parents share joint decision-making under an existing court order, both parents should sign to prevent a school or clinic from questioning the form's scope.

When a Parent Cannot Sign

A JDF 751 delegation requires a parent's or legal guardian's notarized signature. If a parent is incarcerated, the facility's case manager can arrange notarization inside the institution. If a parent is in residential treatment, the center's social worker handles the same process.

If a parent is deceased or completely unreachable, a delegation form is not an option. The relative needs a court order — either a Minor Guardianship under C.R.S. § 15-14-204 (Form JDF 824) or an Allocation of Parental Responsibilities under C.R.S. § 14-10-123.

Revocation

A parent or guardian can revoke a JDF 751 at any time by delivering written notice to the relative and to every institution relying on the form. The delegation also ends automatically if the delegating parent dies.

Getting Started

Colorado's School and Medical Consent guide for grandparents and relatives walks through the delegation form field by field, explains what to do when a school or doctor refuses the paperwork, and includes a renewal tracker so the twelve-month deadline does not catch anyone off guard.

See more Colorado guides →