- What makes a Pennsylvania power of attorney valid after the 2014 law changes?
- Act 95 of 2014, effective January 1, 2015, tightened execution. A Pennsylvania financial POA must be dated and signed by the principal, witnessed by two adults who are not the agent or the notary, and acknowledged before a notary. It must contain the statutory Notice at the front, signed by the principal, and the agent must sign a separate Acknowledgment before acting. Documents signed before 2015 remain valid under the old rules, but banks and brokerages frequently balk at them, which is why we replace them.
- Should my POA be springing or immediately effective?
- Immediately effective, in almost every case. A springing POA takes effect only on incapacity, which means your agent has to produce a physician's certification before any institution will honor it — a process that takes days or weeks at exactly the wrong moment, and one some banks refuse to evaluate at all. An immediately effective durable POA works the day you sign it and continues through incapacity. The safeguard is choosing the right agent, not delaying the document's effectiveness.
- Can I name more than one agent?
- Yes, and Pennsylvania lets you structure it. You can name co-agents who act jointly, co-agents who may act independently, or — the arrangement we usually recommend — one primary agent with named successors. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5605, co-agents may act independently unless the document says otherwise. Requiring two signatures sounds like a safeguard but in practice stalls transactions when one agent travels or falls ill.
- Which powers must be spelled out in the document?
- Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.4, certain 'hot powers' must be expressly granted or the agent simply does not have them: making gifts, creating, amending, or revoking a trust, changing beneficiary designations, changing rights of survivorship, disclaiming property, delegating authority, and waiving a retirement plan survivor benefit. A generic form with a broad grant of 'all powers' does not confer them — and those are precisely the powers needed for Medicaid and inheritance-tax planning in a crisis.
- What happens if I never sign a power of attorney?
- Your family has to petition the Orphans' Court for guardianship under 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 55. That means a petition, service on you, a court-appointed attorney or evaluator, medical testimony, a public hearing, and — if granted — ongoing annual reporting to the court. It typically costs several thousand dollars and takes months, during which nobody can pay your bills, sell your house, or manage your accounts. A power of attorney signed while you have capacity costs a fraction of that and avoids the courthouse entirely.