What If a Parent Won't Sign a Power of Attorney in Virginia?

The Signature Requirement You Cannot Work Around

Virginia Code § 20-166 is clear: a parental power of attorney must be signed by the parent or legal custodian. If parents hold joint legal custody, both parents must sign. There is no provision for a caregiver to execute the POA on their own, no way to substitute one parent's signature for another, and no notary workaround that bypasses a missing signer.

This is the rule that trips up more kinship caregivers than almost anything else. You are caring for a child who needs to see a doctor and start school, but the person whose signature you need is either refusing to cooperate or has disappeared. Knowing your alternatives keeps you from getting stuck.

Scenario 1: One Parent Refuses to Sign

When parents share joint legal custody and one refuses to sign, the POA cannot be legally executed. A half-signed document is not valid, and presenting it to a school or medical office risks a rejection that makes future interactions harder.

Your options:

Try to understand the refusal. Sometimes a parent refuses because they misunderstand what the POA does. They may fear it permanently gives away their parental rights. It does not — a § 20-166 POA is temporary (180 days maximum), voluntary, and revocable at any time by written notice. The parent retains all parental rights while the POA is active. If the refusal is based on a misunderstanding, a calm explanation or a call from the kinship navigator might resolve it.

Check whether sole legal custody exists. If one parent holds sole legal custody under a court decree, that parent can sign the POA independently. Attach a copy of the sole custody order to the POA. If you are unsure about custody status, the clerk's office at the local JDR District Court can help you locate relevant orders.

Use alternative statutory pathways. If the POA is off the table, two other Virginia statutes still protect the child's access to school and medical care:

• School enrollment: Va. Code § 22.1-3(A)(4)(iii) allows kinship enrollment through the division's required affidavit. If a parent is unavailable, explain the absence in your affidavit and confirm whether the division accepts caregiver-only paperwork.
• Medical consent: Va. Code § 54.1-2969 allows a person standing in loco parentis to consent to a child's routine medical, dental, and surgical care. You do not need a POA if you qualify under this pathway; explain your caregiving role and ask the provider what documentation it needs.

Scenario 2: A Parent's Whereabouts Are Unknown

When a parent cannot be found — they left, stopped responding, or have been out of contact — you face the same legal wall. A POA cannot be signed by someone who is not present, and you cannot forge or fabricate a signature.

The immediate-need alternatives are the same: a § 22.1-3 school affidavit (with a written explanation of the parent's absence) and § 54.1-2969 in loco parentis medical consent.

For longer-term authority, filing a custody petition in the JDR District Court is the standard path. If the parent's location is unknown, ask the court clerk or legal aid whether service by Order of Publication is appropriate and what notice period applies.

Scenario 3: A Parent Is Incarcerated and Refuses

An incarcerated parent can sign a POA through the facility's institutional notary services. If they refuse, the analysis is the same as any other refusal: the POA cannot be completed. Use the § 22.1-3 affidavit and § 54.1-2969 pathways for immediate needs, and consider a custody petition if the refusal makes the arrangement unworkable long-term.

What You Should Not Do

• Do not sign the parent's name. Forging a signature on a notarized legal document is a criminal offense.
• Do not present an incomplete POA. A POA missing a required signature is invalid. Showing it to a registrar or intake clerk invites a rejection and may create a note in the child's file that makes the next attempt harder.
• Do not assume you need a POA for everything. The POA is the most comprehensive non-court tool, but Virginia's school enrollment and medical consent statutes each have their own pathways that do not require one.

Building Your Backup Plan

If the POA path is closed, assemble these documents:

1. A notarized kinship care affidavit explaining your relationship to the child and why the parents cannot care for them (for school enrollment under § 22.1-3)
2. A written statement of your in loco parentis status for medical offices (citing § 54.1-2969)
3. Any documentation of the parent's unavailability — proof of incarceration, a letter from a rehab facility, records of unanswered contact attempts
4. Contact information for your local McKinney-Vento liaison and kinship navigator, in case you need escalation support

The Virginia School and Medical Consent Guide includes decision flowcharts for each of these scenarios, so you can identify the right combination of documents for your specific situation.

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