How to revoke a power of attorney in Pennsylvania
What Pennsylvania law says about revoking a power of attorney, and a free letter you can fill in and print.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
You can revoke your power of attorney while you have capacity. Pennsylvania's power of attorney law (20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56) does not set a form or a required method for revoking a financial power of attorney.
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
What Pennsylvania law says about revoking a power of attorney
- How to revoke
You can revoke your power of attorney while you have capacity. Pennsylvania's power of attorney law (20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56) does not set a form or a required method for revoking a financial power of attorney.
- Telling others
A person who accepts a power of attorney in good faith, without actually knowing it was revoked, is protected when relying on it (20 Pa.C.S. 5608(d)). An agent who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of the revocation is also protected, and the agent's affidavit to that effect is conclusive proof for people relying on it (20 Pa.C.S. 5606). A bank or business that actually knows the authority has ended does not have to accept the power of attorney.
Law: 20 Pa.C.S. 5608.1(b)(4)
Law: 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 5605, 5606, 5608
Source: Official text
Free letter: revoke a power of attorney
When it ends and how to revoke it
- It ends when
- You revoke it
- You die (people who act in good faith without knowing of your death are protected)
- A time of termination stated in the document
- A court terminates the agent's authority
- If your spouse is your agent, when either of you files for divorce, unless the document says the choice survives divorce
- If the power of attorney is not durable, your incapacity
- Banks and other businesses
A person asked to accept a Pennsylvania power of attorney must, within 7 business days, either accept it or ask for an agent's affidavit, a certification under penalty of perjury, an English translation or a lawyer's opinion; it must then accept within 5 business days after getting it. It may not demand its own form. Refusing in violation of the law can lead to a court order to accept and liability for financial harm. Listed exceptions include good-faith doubts about validity and reports of suspected abuse to protective services. These acceptance rules do not apply to a power of attorney governed by another state's law.
Law: 20 Pa.C.S. 5608, 5608.1
Law: 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 5601(c), 5604(b), 5605
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
- Older Pennsylvanians Legal Assistance Program (Department of Aging; free for residents 60+, including guardianship defense)
- Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania: Guardianship in Pennsylvania (handbook, training videos)
- Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania: Alternatives to Guardianship
- Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania: Orphans' Court forms (guardianship G-forms)
- Pennsylvania Guardian Handbook (AOPC Office of Elder Justice in the Courts)
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
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