Free Pennsylvania Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney Form

Pennsylvania presumes durability and asks for no special words to achieve it, so there is nothing you can leave out. A Pennsylvania Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney has to say, in its own terms, that the authority ends on your incapacity. Chapter 56 of Title 20 of the Consolidated Statutes governs it, and section 5601.1 is headed Powers of attorney presumed durable.

Four separate signing acts have to happen, and one of them is not yours.

Dated and Signed

Your power of attorney must be dated, and signed by you by signature or mark. If you are unable to sign but specifically direct another individual to sign for you, that person may sign on your behalf and at your direction.

Two Witnesses and a Notary, All Different People

Your signature must be acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments, and witnessed by two individuals each 18 or older. Section 5601(b)(3) then rules people out of both roles. The notary cannot be the agent. A witness cannot be the agent, cannot be the person who signed on your behalf, and cannot be the notary. Pennsylvania also allows the acknowledgment to be taken by a member of the bar of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rather than a notary.

The Notice at the Front

Section 5601(c) requires a statutory notice, which you sign, explaining what you are granting and what your agent must do. It closes with your confirmation that you have read or had the notice explained to you.

Your Agent Has to Sign Too

Under section 5601(d) an agent has no authority to act until they have executed an acknowledgment and affixed it to the power of attorney. In it the agent accepts that they will act in accordance with your reasonable expectations to the extent actually known, otherwise in your best interest, in good faith, and only within the scope of the authority you granted.

Because Pennsylvania dropped the magic words. Section 5601.1 says that unless specifically provided otherwise in the power of attorney, all powers of attorney shall be durable as provided in section 5604. And section 5604 defines a durable power of attorney simply as one by which a principal designates another his agent in writing, with the authority exercisable notwithstanding the principal’s subsequent disability or incapacity.

Read those two together and the consequence is sharper than in most states. There is no prescribed durability sentence sitting in your draft that you can delete. Durability attaches by default and needs no wording at all, so the only route to a non-durable document is to specifically provide otherwise in the document itself.

That is worth saying plainly because the usual advice runs the other way. In Florida, Delaware or Mississippi you produce a non-durable document by omitting a block of language. Do the same thing in Pennsylvania and you have produced a durable one, not a Pennsylvania Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney.

Section 5604 also lets you provide that the power becomes effective at a specified future time, or on a specified contingency including your disability or incapacity. That is a separate lever from durability, and using it does not by itself limit how long the authority lasts.

Line up four people before you start, counting yourself.

1. Put the statutory notice at the front of the document and sign it.
2. Write in your agent and any successor, then spell out the authority you are granting.
3. Specifically provide that the power of attorney terminates on your incapacity, as section 5601.1 requires.
4. Set the stopping point: a date on the calendar, or the job it exists to finish.
5. Date the document and sign it, or direct another individual to sign for you.
6. Have two witnesses aged 18 or older sign, neither of them your agent, your directed signer, or the notary.
7. Acknowledge your signature before a notary public, or before a member of the Pennsylvania bar.
8. Have your agent execute the statutory acknowledgment and affix it before doing anything under the document.

A complete Pennsylvania Non-Durable (General) Power of Attorney carries:

• The signed statutory notice at the front
• Your name and address, and your agent’s
• The authority granted, itemized
• The provision specifically ending the document on your incapacity
• The date, and your signature or mark
• Two qualifying witness signatures and the notarial acknowledgment
• Your agent’s executed acknowledgment, affixed