Power of Attorney Requirements in Pennsylvania

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Chapter 56 of Title 20 governs Pennsylvania financial powers of attorney. The execution requirements in § 5601(b)(3) apply to powers signed on or after January 1, 2015, as the chapter's Act 95 and Act 103 amendment notes explain. Commercial and entity powers have express exceptions discussed below.

Who must sign

The power must be dated. The principal may sign by signature or mark, or, if unable to sign, specifically direct another individual to sign on the principal's behalf (§ 5601(b)(1)). The directed signer cannot also be a witness (§ 5601(b)(3)(ii)).

Notarization

For a covered power executed on or after January 1, 2015, the principal's signature or mark, or the directed signer's signature, must be "Acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments" (§ 5601(b)(3)(i)). The agent designated in the power cannot take that acknowledgment.

Witnesses

Two individuals at least 18 years old must witness execution. Neither may be the directed signer, the designated agent, or the person taking the acknowledgment (§ 5601(b)(3)(ii)). Signing by mark or by a directed signer also invokes the separate two witness provision in § 5601(b)(2).

Statutory form

Pennsylvania supplies no complete statutory financial power form. It does require a capital letter notice at the beginning, signed by the principal (§ 5601(c)), and a separate agent acknowledgment affixed before the agent has authority to act (§ 5601(d)). Section 5602(a) lets a principal incorporate powers defined in § 5603 by using listed phrases or language showing similar intent. The consequence of an unsigned notice is addressed below.

Durable by default?

"Unless specifically provided otherwise in the power of attorney, all powers of attorney shall be durable" (§ 5601.1). Section 5604(a) describes that durability as authority exercisable despite the principal's later disability or incapacity.

Springing POA allowed?

Under § 5604(a), the principal may make the power effective "at a specified future time or upon the occurrence of a specified contingency," including disability or incapacity. The power can therefore delay an agent's exercise of authority until the chosen trigger.

Real estate extras

An acknowledged power "may be recorded" with the recorder of deeds in the principal's county of residence and each county where affected real property is located (§ 5602(c)). The statute also permits a filing with the orphans' court clerk in the principal's county; it states recording as permission, not a condition of basic validity.

Out-of-state POAs

Section 5611 recognizes a power signed under another jurisdiction's laws if its execution complied with the law indicated in the document or, if none is indicated, the law where it was executed. It also names federal military powers; 10 U.S.C. § 1044b(a) gives a qualifying military power state law recognition despite different formalities. Military powers are outside this survey's main scope.

What trips people up

• The execution package has defined exceptions. Section 5601(e.1) exempts specified commercial transaction powers, creditor interests, asset transfer powers, entity governance powers, vehicle dealer powers, and government forms from the new acknowledgment, witness, notice, and agent acknowledgment provisions. Exempt powers need not be dated, but an exempt power recorded under § 5602(c) must be acknowledged first.

Common questions

Does a missing signed notice automatically void the power? Section 5601(c) states a specific consequence: if the notice is unsigned and the agent's authority is challenged, the agent bears the burden of showing that exercising the authority is proper.

Can a certified copy be recorded? Section 5602(c) permits the office that holds the filed power to issue a certified copy; that copy has the original's force and may be filed in another Pennsylvania office.

Statutes and sources

The current Pennsylvania Title 20, Chapter 56 contains the quoted sections below, accessed 2026-10-06. The separate federal recognition rule is in the official U.S. Code.

• § 5601(b): "A power of attorney shall be dated" and signed by the principal or a specifically directed substitute; subsection (3) requires acknowledgment and two qualified witnesses.
• § 5601(e.1): "Subsections (b)(3), (c) and (d) and section 5601.3 (relating to agent's duties) do not apply to" the enumerated exempt powers, including commercial transactions.
• § 5601(c): "All powers of attorney shall include the following notice in capital letters at the beginning of the power of attorney. The notice shall be signed by the principal."
• § 5601(d): "An agent shall have no authority to act as agent under the power of attorney unless the agent has first executed and affixed to the power of attorney an acknowledgment" in substantially the stated form.
• § 5601.1: "Unless specifically provided otherwise in the power of attorney, all powers of attorney shall be durable" as § 5604 provides.
• § 5604(a): "A principal may provide in the power of attorney that the power shall become effective at a specified future time or upon the occurrence of a specified contingency" including incapacity.
• § 5602(a): "A principal may, by inclusion of the language quoted in any of the following paragraphs or by inclusion of other language showing a similar intent" empower an agent as the section specifies.
• § 5602(c): An acknowledged power "may be recorded in the office for the recording of deeds" in the relevant counties; certified copies can be filed elsewhere with the original's effect.
• § 5611: "A power of attorney executed in or under the laws of another state or jurisdiction shall be valid in this Commonwealth if" its execution satisfied one of the listed laws.
• 10 U.S.C. § 1044b(a): A military power "is exempt from any requirement of form, substance, formality, or recording" otherwise supplied by state power of attorney law.