We want to call current and retired state employees’ attention to the limited durable power of attorney form that can be found at the Comptroller’s website.  

Any member participating in the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and wish designate someone as his or her Attorney-In-Fact must use this form. The LDPOA authorizes your Attorney-In-Fact to perform on your behalf any transactions with SERS that you could request yourself.

This form is intended for use with State Employees Retirement System only, and must be completed while a member is alive. It is intended to deal with the situation where a living member might want to take a step with respect to retirement — e.g. apply for disability or choose a particular spouse option – but is, as a result of illness or accident, physically or mentally unable to do so. 

We strongly recommend that every member covered by SERS complete this form. During the COVID-19 crisis, the form may be completed without notarization as long as it has been properly witnessed.

Regarding witnesses, there are three ways members can sign POAs during the crisis:

As always, with a live notary and two witnesses. Those POAs last indefinitely as always;

Using an online notary or attorney process, pursuant to Executive-Order-No-7Q.  That process basically uses Zoom or the equivalent to create a recording of the electronic signature, and doesn’t need witnesses or any live contact. These POAs, too, last indefinitely as always;

With no notary or witnesses, emailed in with a digital photo or other legible copy of a valid photo ID of the member. This is the special exception the State agreed to, but these POAs will only be valid until 60 days beyond the end of the crisis. Members will get notification from the Retirement Division that they will need to replace the POAs with properly signed ones within 60 days of when the emergency ends.  

All three options incorporate the request that members need to include only the last 4 digits of their social on the form instead of the full number for security purposes.

Please send forms to this address: [email protected].