When a parent’s memory starts to slip or a spouse needs nursing home care, families often pull the power of attorney out of the file drawer and assume it covers everything. Many times it does not. A power of attorney for Medicaid planning in Missouri and Kansas has to spell certain things out in writing, or your agent may not be able to do the very job you were counting on.

A financial power of attorney names someone you trust, called your agent or attorney in fact, to handle money and property for you. A durable one keeps working if you can no longer manage your own affairs, which makes it one of the core incapacity planning documents. Here are three powers worth a careful look, and why the wording matters so much when long-term care enters the picture.

Why aren’t “general powers” enough?

Both states let you give an agent broad authority over all lawful subjects. Broad does not mean unlimited, though. Section 404.710 of the Missouri statutes and K.S.A. 58-654 in Kansas each list actions an agent can take only if the document expressly authorizes them. Both lists include:

• Making or revoking a gift of your property
• Creating, amending or revoking a trust, or funding a trust you did not create
• Creating or changing survivorship interests in your property
• Naming or changing the beneficiaries who receive property at your death

If the document is silent on these, your agent generally cannot do them, no matter how broad the rest of it sounds. That catches many families who signed a form years ago. And some things are off the table entirely: neither state allows an agent to make, change or revoke your will.

What should a power of attorney for Medicaid planning in Missouri and Kansas say about gifts?

The power to make gifts usually matters most in long-term care planning. Medicaid limits what a person can own, and a plan made after a health crisis may involve moving assets, for example to a spouse, to a child with a disability, or into a trust. If the person who needs care can no longer sign, an agent without express authority may be stuck. The family may then have to ask a court to appoint a conservator, which takes time and money. Less restrictive options are much easier to put in place early.

Gifts also carry real risk. Under federal Medicaid law, the state looks back 60 months from a long-term care application for assets transferred for less than fair market value. The Kansas eligibility manual applies the same 60-month period. A covered transfer can create a penalty period when Medicaid will not pay for long-term care. The length depends on the amount transferred divided by the average monthly private-pay cost of nursing home care, and the penalty generally does not start until the person is otherwise eligible and would be receiving that care. In other words, it tends to land right when the bills are highest.

A gift by your agent counts just as if you made it yourself. The federal law reaches actions by anyone with legal authority to act on your behalf. So the power to give is only useful alongside advice about when, and whether, to use it.

Two more points often surprise families:

• The gift tax rule is a different rule. The IRS annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient for 2026. Medicaid does not follow it, so a gift well under that amount can still count as a transfer. A gift clause capped at the annual exclusion may also be too narrow for Medicaid planning.
• Some transfers are exempt. Federal law carves out certain transfers, including a home passing to a spouse, a child under 21, a blind or disabled child, a sibling with an equity interest who lived there at least a year, or an adult child who lived there at least two years and provided care that kept the parent at home. Each exception has conditions, and life estate deeds raise their own questions.

How can you keep a gifting power from being abused?

A broad power to give away your money can invite misuse, even in close families. Your attorney can help you build in limits, such as:

• Stating who may receive gifts, and whether your agent may be one of them
• Barring gifts that undo the main terms of your estate plan
• Allowing gifts only to a specific trust
• Requiring an independent person to approve gifts

Agents in both states are fiduciaries. Under RSMo 404.714 and K.S.A. 58-656, they must act in your interest and avoid self-dealing and conflicts. Misuse can also be a crime. Missouri’s financial exploitation statute covers improper or fraudulent use of a power of attorney, and the Kansas mistreatment statute reaches violations of the Kansas Power of Attorney Act.

Can my agent change my estate plan?

Not by default. Without explicit authorization, agents in both states must use a high degree of care to keep your existing plan in place, including beneficiary designations, joint ownership, trusts and wills.

You can choose to allow limited changes. Suppose you have lost capacity and a child goes through a divorce, files bankruptcy or develops an addiction. A carefully limited power could let your agent adjust a beneficiary designation or a trust so that child’s share is better protected. The same power can tempt an agent to steer more to themselves, so you may want to require approval from a disinterested third party. Any such power should also be coordinated with your trust.

Can my agent handle legal claims and Medicaid appeals?

Your agent may need to bring, settle or defend a legal claim, such as a dispute with a care facility or an insurer, or appeal a benefits denial. General language may reach those tasks, but clear language leaves less room for an institution to question your agent’s authority or for your family to need a court’s help. Spelling out authority to apply for public benefits and deal with government agencies helps too. You can also exclude lawsuits against family members, so the power is not turned on a sibling.

One Kansas detail: the statute also lists paying reasonable funeral and burial expenses among the powers that must be expressly authorized.

How do I check the power of attorney I already have?

Pull out your document and ask:

• Does it say it is durable, so it survives incapacity?
• Does it expressly mention gifts, and does it say to whom and how much?
• Does it address trusts, survivorship interests and beneficiary designations?
• Does it authorize your agent to deal with public benefits?
• Does it name a backup agent?
• Was it written with the law of your state in mind, especially if you have moved across the state line?

Timing matters, because you must have capacity to sign a new one. It also helps to give your agent the CFPB guide for agents under a power of attorney, which explains an agent’s duties in plain language.

Talk with The Binder Firm about your power of attorney

Every family and every benefit program is different, and the rules change. The Binder Firm helps Missouri and Kansas families prepare for long-term care and incapacity. Call us at 816-866-8264 to review your power of attorney and talk through your situation.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.