No power can be executed except by some instrument in writing, which would be sufficient in law to pass the estate or interest intended to pass under the power if the person executing the power were the actual owner.
D.C. Code § 42-1017
Writing needed to execute power
Mar. 3, 1901, 31 Stat. 1354, ch. 854, § 1053
Official source: D.C. Law Library (Council of the District of Columbia). Reproduced from public-domain District of Columbia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.