Power of attorney in Pennsylvania: form, signing and powers

The form, the signing rules, durable or not, and what an agent can do in Pennsylvania, from Pennsylvania law.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Short answer

Powers of Attorney (20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56)

How to sign
Notarized and signed in front of two witnesses
Durable unless it says otherwise?
Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
No

Words used in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and a health care agent in a health care power of attorney. Your end-of-life treatment wishes go in a living will, which can be combined with the health care power of attorney. If an adult cannot manage and nothing less restrictive works, the orphans' court division can appoint a guardian.

An agent (also called an attorney-in-fact) is the person you choose to act for you. You are the principal.

Money and property
Power of attorney (durable power of attorney)
The person you choose
Agent
Health care
Health care power of attorney (part of an advance health care directive)
Treatment wishes
Living will
Court-appointed decision-maker
Guardian of the person and/or guardian of the estate of an incapacitated person (plenary or limited); emergency guardian

Law and official form

Law
Powers of Attorney (20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56)
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
No

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 56

Signing rules

How to sign

Date and sign the power of attorney, and sign the required notice at its beginning. Your signature must be acknowledged before a notary AND witnessed by two adults; both are needed. Before acting, your agent must sign the agent's acknowledgment.

Who signs

Dated and signed by you (by signature or mark). If you cannot sign, another person can sign for you at your specific direction.

Notary
Required
Witnesses
2
Who cannot witness

Two witnesses, each 18 or older. These people cannot be a witness: the person who signed for you, your agent, and the notary who takes your acknowledgment. A Pennsylvania lawyer may take the acknowledgment instead of a notary, but then cannot also be one of the two witnesses.

Agent's acknowledgment

Your agent has no authority to act until the agent signs and attaches an acknowledgment saying they will act in line with your reasonable expectations, in good faith and within the authority you gave (20 Pa.C.S. 5601(d)). You must also sign a notice in capital letters at the beginning of the power of attorney (20 Pa.C.S. 5601(c)).

Electronic signing

A power of attorney signed in electronic form may be recorded under the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (20 Pa.C.S. 5602(c)). A photocopy or electronically sent copy has the same effect as the original, except for filing or recording (20 Pa.C.S. 5602(d)).

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601(b), (c), (d)

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney is durable, meaning it keeps working if you become incapacitated, unless it specifically says otherwise.

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. 5601.1, 5604

Durable unless it says otherwise?
Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.
Starting later (springing)

You can say in the power of attorney that it starts at a future time or when something happens, such as your disability or incapacity (20 Pa.C.S. 5604(a)). The agent's affidavit that the time or event has occurred is conclusive proof for people who rely on it in good faith (20 Pa.C.S. 5606).

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission
  • Create, change, revoke or end a living trust (beyond the limited trust powers in the law)
  • Make a gift
  • Create or change rights of survivorship
  • Create or change a beneficiary designation
  • Delegate authority under the power of attorney
  • Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement survivor benefit
  • Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate
  • Disclaim property, including a power of appointment
  • Access the content of your electronic communications
No power of attorney can

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse or descendant cannot use it to give themselves (or someone they must support) an interest in your property, by gift, survivorship, beneficiary designation, disclaimer or otherwise. A financial power of attorney does not cover health care decisions; those powers were removed from Chapter 56 and belong in a health care power of attorney.

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. 5601.4(b)

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.4(a)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties
  • Act in line with your reasonable expectations as far as the agent actually knows them, and otherwise in your best interest
  • Act in good faith
  • Act only within the authority you gave
  • Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
  • Keep the agent's money separate from yours (with limited exceptions, such as a spouse)
  • Act with the care, competence and diligence agents ordinarily use
  • Keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions
  • Cooperate with your health care decision-maker
  • Try to preserve your estate plan, as far as the agent knows it and it is in your best interest
Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent is entitled to reasonable pay based on the work actually done, and to repayment of actual and reasonable expenses (20 Pa.C.S. 5609).

Asking a court to review an agent

The court can order the agent to file an account, and an agent may file one at any time; accounts are filed with the clerk in the county where you live (20 Pa.C.S. 5610). You, a guardian or other fiduciary, a protective services agency and, after your death, your personal representative can ask the agent to disclose transactions; the agent must answer within 30 days, or explain and answer within 30 more days. Older-adult protective services can ask the court for access to records (20 Pa.C.S. 5604(d)).

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. 5601.3(d)

Law: 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.3

When it ends and how to revoke it

How to revoke a power of attorney in Pennsylvania

Official forms in Pennsylvania

Forms published by the state or its courts. You open them on the official site.

Health care directive

Living will

Guardianship / conservatorship

Good to know in Pennsylvania

  • A Pennsylvania financial power of attorney needs BOTH a notary acknowledgment and two adult witnesses, and the agent must sign an acknowledgment before acting (20 Pa.C.S. 5601(b)(3), (d)).
  • Filing for divorce automatically revokes a spouse's appointment as agent under a financial or health care power of attorney, unless the document says otherwise (20 Pa.C.S. 5605(c), 5430).
  • Since June 2024, courts must appoint a lawyer for a person facing guardianship and must find that each less restrictive alternative is insufficient before ordering guardianship.

    Law: Act 61 of 2023; 20 Pa.C.S. 5511(a.1), 5512.1

  • Mental health declarations and mental health powers of attorney expire after two years unless in use at that time (20 Pa.C.S. 5824(e)).

Changes in 2024–2026

Act 61 of 2023: guardianship reform - right to appointed counsel, petitions must show less restrictive alternatives were tried, specific findings, certification for guardians of 3+ people, review hearings. Act 41 of 2024 amended 5601.4(a)(9) on agent access to electronic communications. Act 39 of 2025 amended 5512.2(a.1) on review hearing timing. No 2024-2026 amendments found in Chapter 54.

Law: P.L.446, signed Dec. 14, 2023, effective in 180 days, about June 2024; 20 Pa.C.S. 5511, 5512.1, 5512.2; P.L.450, July 1, 2024, effective in 60 days; P.L.129, Oct. 27, 2025, effective in 60 days

Free help in Pennsylvania

Report abuse or exploitation

Pennsylvania Department of Aging - Elder Abuse Helpline (Older Adults Protective Services, through local Area Agencies on Aging) · 1-800-490-8505

Questions about powers of attorney in Pennsylvania

What is a power of attorney called in Pennsylvania?

Power of attorney (durable power of attorney). In Pennsylvania you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and a health care agent in a health care power of attorney. Your end-of-life treatment wishes go in a living will, which can be combined with the health care power of attorney. If an adult cannot manage and nothing less restrictive works, the orphans' court division can appoint a guardian.

Does a power of attorney have to be notarized in Pennsylvania?

Date and sign the power of attorney, and sign the required notice at its beginning. Your signature must be acknowledged before a notary AND witnessed by two adults; both are needed. Before acting, your agent must sign the agent's acknowledgment.

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