Colorado Code
Part 7 - Uniform Power of Attorney Act
§ 15-14-736. Personal and Family Maintenance

Source: L. 2009: Entire part added, (HB 09-1198), ch. 106, p. 407, § 1, effective April 9. L. 2017: (1)(d) amended, (SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1391, § 31, effective May 25.
This section, based on Section 13 of the Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney Act, contains three important changes. The first is clarification in subsection (1) of who qualifies to benefit from payments for personal and family maintenance. Paragraph (1)(a) states that the individuals who may benefit include not only the principal's children and other individuals legally entitled to be supported by the principal, but also "individuals whom the principal has customarily supported or indicated the intent to support," "whether living when the power of attorney is executed or later born." This definition is broad enough to include common recipients of family support such as parents and later-born grandchildren if such support is intended by the principal.
The second important addition to Section 15-14-736 is the inclusion of paragraph (f) in subsection (1) which qualifies the agent to act as the principal's "personal representative" for purposes of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) so that the agent can communicate with health care providers in order to pay medical bills. See 45 C.F.R. § 164.502(g)(1)-(2) (2006) (providing that for purposes of disclosing an individual's protected health information, "a covered entity must . . . treat a personal representative as the individual"). Section 15-14-736 does not, however, empower the agent to make health-care decisions for the principal. See Section 15-14-703 and comment (discussing exclusion from this Act of powers to make health-care decisions).
The third important addition to this section is subsection (2) which provides that authority under Section 15-14-736 is neither dependent upon, nor limited by, authority that an agent may or may not have with respect to making gifts. Although payments made for the benefit of persons under Section 15-14-736 may in fact be subject to gift tax treatment, subsection (2) clarifies that the authority for personal and family maintenance payments by an agent emanates from this section rather than Section 15-14-740. This is an important distinction because the Act requires a grant of specific authority under Section 15-14-724(1) to authorize gift making, and the default provisions of Section 15-14-740 limit the amounts of those gifts. The authority to make payments under Section 15-14-736 is not constrained by either of these provisions.

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