How to Complete and Sign a Pennsylvania Power of Attorney Form

A Pennsylvania power of attorney form lets you name someone to handle your financial and legal affairs, and to be accepted by banks, title companies, and courts it must follow the signing rules in Title 20, Chapter 56 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. ¹ That means a statutory Notice you sign at the top, the right powers selected (some of which require your initials beside them), two qualified witnesses, a notary, and an Acknowledgment signed by your agent before they do anything. Miss any of those pieces and the document can be rejected on the spot.

Who You Can Name as Agent

You, the principal, must be a legal adult with the mental capacity to understand what you are handing over. The person you name as agent must also be a competent adult. Pennsylvania does not require the agent to live in state, but someone nearby makes practical tasks like visiting a branch or attending a closing easier.

You can name more than one. Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5602(b), co-agents act jointly by default, meaning both must agree on every transaction; if you want them to act independently, the form must say so explicitly. You can also name successor agents who step in, in the order you list them, if your first-choice agent dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated. ¹ Naming at least one successor is a simple precaution that can keep your family out of guardianship court later.

Fill in the full legal name and current residential address for each agent and successor. Financial institutions will compare these against ID, and a mismatch gives them a reason to stall.

When the Powers Take Effect

Pennsylvania presumes every power of attorney is durable, meaning it stays in effect after you become incapacitated, unless the document says otherwise. ¹ A durable power of attorney takes effect the moment you sign it, and the agent can start acting that same day.

If you do not want your agent to act right away, 20 Pa. C.S. § 5604(a) lets you create a “springing” power that only becomes effective on a future event, usually a physician’s written certification that you are incapacitated. ¹ The trade-off is practical: when the triggering event happens, your agent has to produce that certification before any bank or broker will honor the document, and that process can take days or weeks at exactly the moment speed matters most.

If you want a non-durable form, one that ends automatically if you lose capacity, you must include explicit language saying so. Silence means durable.

The Required Notice at the Top of the Form

Every Pennsylvania power of attorney must begin with a statutory Notice, printed in capital letters, that you read and sign before anything else on the form. It warns you that the agent may have broad authority over your property, that the authority can continue after you become incapacitated, that you can revoke it at any time, and that you should consult a lawyer if anything is unclear. ¹

Sign and date the Notice where indicated. A missing Notice signature is the fastest way to get the entire document rejected by a third party.

Choosing Which Powers to Grant

The form splits authority into two tiers: general powers you can check off, and powers that require a specific, express grant.

General Powers

Section 5602(a) lists the categories of general authority you can assign, each defined in detail in § 5603. Common selections include real property transactions (buying, selling, leasing, or mortgaging land), banking and financial transactions, insurance and annuity transactions, retirement plan transactions, tax matters, claims and litigation, business operations, and personal and family maintenance. Most forms present these as a checklist. If a category is not selected, the agent has no authority in that area. ¹

Powers That Require an Express Grant (“Hot Powers”)

Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5601.4(a), the following actions require language in the document specifically authorizing them: ¹

Make gifts of your money or property.
Create or change beneficiary designations on insurance policies, retirement accounts, or similar instruments.
Create or change rights of survivorship on jointly held property.
Create, amend, revoke, or terminate a living trust.
Waive your right to a survivor benefit under a retirement plan or joint annuity.
Delegate the agent’s own authority to someone else.
Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate.
Disclaim property or a power of appointment.
Access the content of your electronic communications.

On most forms you activate each of these by placing your initials next to the paragraph. Skip a line and your agent cannot legally perform that action regardless of how broadly the rest of the document reads. Take your time here. Accidentally granting gift-making power can deplete an estate; accidentally omitting beneficiary-designation power can leave your agent unable to update an outdated life insurance policy when it matters most.

The Agent’s Acknowledgment

Before your agent can exercise any authority, they must sign an Acknowledgment attached to or included at the end of the document. Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5601(d), this confirms the agent has read the document, understands the scope of authority, and agrees to act in your best interest, in good faith, and only within the limits you set. ¹ An agent who has not signed this section has no legal authority to act, full stop. Any successor agents you name should sign Acknowledgments too, so they can step in immediately rather than scrambling to complete paperwork during a crisis.

Signing and Notarizing the Form

The signing ceremony has three mandatory participants besides you: two witnesses and a notary public. Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5601(b), you must sign (or make your mark on) the document in the presence of all three at the same time. ¹ If you are physically unable to sign, another person may sign on your behalf, at your direction and in your presence.

Each witness must be at least 18, and the following people cannot serve as witnesses: ¹

Any agent named in the document.
The notary public who is notarizing the document.
The person who signed on your behalf, if someone else signed for you.

Good witnesses are neighbors, coworkers, or friends with no financial stake in your affairs. After everyone signs, the notary adds their official seal. Without notarization, the document cannot be recorded with a county recorder of deeds and most financial institutions will refuse it outright.

What to Do With the Signed Document

Recording for Real Estate

If your agent will handle any real estate on your behalf, the power of attorney must be recorded at the recorder of deeds in the county where the property sits. Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5602(c), an acknowledged power of attorney may be recorded in your county of residence and in each county where affected real property is located. ¹ Recording fees vary by county; contact your county recorder for the current schedule. ²

Presenting the Document to Banks

Pennsylvania has unusually strong protections for agents who need third parties to honor a power of attorney. Under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5608.1, a bank, broker, or other institution must either accept the document or request supporting documentation (such as an affidavit of continuance or an opinion of counsel) within seven business days of the agent presenting it. Once the institution receives the requested documentation, it has five more business days to accept the document. ¹ An institution cannot demand you use its own proprietary form in place of a properly executed statutory form. Unreasonable refusals can lead to court-ordered acceptance and liability for attorney fees.

As a practical step, give your agent several certified copies and keep the original somewhere secure but accessible, like a fireproof safe at home rather than a bank safe deposit box the agent might need the power of attorney to open.

Revoking the Document

You can revoke the power of attorney at any time, as long as you are mentally competent. The safest approach is a written revocation, notarized, delivered directly to your agent and to every institution that received the original. If you recorded the original with a county recorder of deeds, record the revocation in the same office so the public record reflects the change. ¹

Several events end the agent’s authority by operation of law. Your death terminates the authority, though under 20 Pa. C.S. § 5605(a) actions the agent takes in good faith before learning of your death remain binding on your estate. If your spouse is your agent and either of you files for divorce, the spouse’s designation is automatically revoked as of the filing date, unless the document explicitly says the appointment survives. A court can also terminate the agent’s authority if it finds the agent is not acting properly. And if you made the document explicitly non-durable, your incapacity ends it. ¹

Notify your agent promptly after revoking. Until the agent has actual knowledge of the revocation, good-faith actions under the old document may still be legally valid.

A Note on the Gift-Making Power

If you initial the express power to make gifts, understand what you are enabling. For 2026 the federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient; gifts above that to a single recipient in one year require your agent to file IRS Form 709 on your behalf. ³⁴ The gift-making power is where abuse most commonly happens. If you include it, consider writing a dollar cap or a specific list of permitted recipients directly into the document. A written limitation is far more enforceable than a general fiduciary duty after the money is already gone.

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 20 Chapter 56 – Powers of Attorney
2
Montgomery County, PA. Recording Fee Schedule
3
Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return