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Power of Attorney in Pennsylvania: A Berks County Guide

How a financial and a health care power of attorney work in Pennsylvania: what each covers, the witness and notary rules, the free forms, whether an old document still works, what a bank must accept, what the agent must do, and what Berks lawyers charge.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 19, 2026
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When a bank or hospital says your parent needs a power of attorney, Pennsylvania treats that as two separate documents: a financial power of attorney, which lets someone your parent names (the agent) handle money and property, and a health care power of attorney, which names who makes medical decisions when your parent can't. Neither needs a lawyer to be valid.

This is general information about how Pennsylvania's rules work; what your parent's document should say, and whether an old one does the job, is a question for a lawyer. If the hospital asked for an "advance directive," that's the law's umbrella term for a health care power of attorney, a living will (written wishes about life-sustaining treatment), or the two combined. If you're the one signing, read "your parent" as yourself. Berks firms are on the county lawyers page; whether you need a lawyer at all covers what a family can handle itself.

What's the difference between a financial power of attorney and a health care power of attorney?

Financial power of attorney Health care power of attorney
What it covers Money and property: accounts, bills, the house, taxes, benefits Medical decisions when your parent can't make them
Who signs Your parent, dated (or, if your parent can't sign, someone your parent directs to sign for them) Your parent, dated (or, if your parent can't sign, someone your parent directs to sign for them)
Witnesses Two, each 18 or older; not the agent, the notary, or the person who signed for your parent Two, each 18 or older; not the person who signed for your parent
Notary Required for one signed on or after January 1, 2015; the notary can't be the agent Not required
Extra pages the law requires A notice in capital letters at the front that your parent signs; a page the agent signs before the agent can act None; the document identifies your parent, names the agent and says the agent may decide
When it starts Once the agent has signed the acknowledgment, unless written to start at a set time or when your parent can't manage Unless the document says otherwise, when a copy reaches the doctor in charge of your parent's care and that doctor finds your parent unable to make the decision
When it ends At death, when revoked, or at an end date it sets At death (except organ donation, the body and autopsy consent), or when revoked
A free official form None; the statute prints the required words, not a form Yes: the state's example combined health care power of attorney and living will

Pennsylvania's signing rules as of 2026; the health care column also covers a combined form, and the financial column is for a document signed on or after January 1, 2015.

Every Pennsylvania power of attorney signed since 1992 is durable (it keeps working if your parent later can't manage), unless it says otherwise.

How do you sign a financial power of attorney in Pennsylvania?

A form printed off the internet can work if it carries the words and signatures the law requires. The health care law asks that the signer be of sound mind, and the financial law sets no test of its own. The formal finding that someone can't manage their own affairs is a court's guardianship order (a judge naming someone to decide for them). Whether a parent with a new diagnosis can sign today is a question for a lawyer who meets the parent.

For a document signed on or after January 1, 2015, your parent dates and signs it, and the signature is acknowledged before a notary who can't be the agent. Two witnesses, 18 or older, watch; neither can be the agent or the notary. As of 2026 a notary may charge up to $5 for the first signer; where to get a document notarized in Berks County lists the places.

It must also open with a capital-letter notice that your parent signs. Next comes the agent's acknowledgment, a signed promise to act in your parent's best interest and within the authority granted; the agent has no authority until it's signed.

A document can start the day it's signed or only when your parent can't manage; with the second kind, the agent may have to swear in writing that the moment has come, and which to choose is a lawyer question.

How do you sign a health care power of attorney, and where is the free form?

Any adult of sound mind makes one by dating and signing it before two witnesses 18 or older: no notary, notice or acknowledgment. The law bars only one person from witnessing: someone who signed the document for your parent.

The state's example form (a combined health care power of attorney and living will) and Penn State Health's downloadable form are in the Sources. Keep the original; the agent and every care team get a copy. Unless the document says otherwise, it takes effect when a copy reaches the attending physician (the doctor in charge of care) and that doctor finds your parent unable to make health care decisions.

Does an old power of attorney still work, and does the bank have to accept it?

The notary step applies only to a document created on or after January 1, 2015; the notice and the agent's page have been required since 2000. A 2016 law says a document already in effect keeps its effect, so an older document's signing is judged by the rules of its day. If the only agent named has died and no successor is named, nobody can act under it; a new document names a new agent, and whether to revoke the old one in writing is a lawyer question.

Selling the house takes a document that grants the power to handle real estate. Recording (filing the notarized original with the county Recorder of Deeds, $87 in Berks for up to four pages) is optional and matters for real estate, not banks; whether to record before a deed is signed is a question for the title company or the lawyer preparing the deed.

A bank, credit union or anyone else handed a power of attorney has seven business days to accept it or ask for one of four things: the agent's sworn statement that, as far as the agent knows, it hasn't been revoked and your parent is alive (and, for one that starts later, that the moment has come); the agent's signed certification of facts; a translation; or a lawyer's opinion.

Five business days after it receives what it asked for, the law says it has to accept unless what it received gives it "a substantial basis for making a further request," and it "may not require an additional or different form of power of attorney for authority granted in the power of attorney presented," that is, no demanding its own form. If a counter turns the document away, ask which of the four things it wants; the clock has started.

It may refuse if the document lacks the required signing steps or the agent's page, if the transaction is one it wouldn't do for your parent, or if it believes in good faith the document isn't valid. Whether a bank can insist on the agent's page for an older document is a lawyer question. The law's remedy for a refusal that breaks these rules is a court order to accept and liability for what it cost your parent.

What does the agent have to do once they're acting?

Once the agent has signed the acknowledgment, the agent has to act as your parent would reasonably expect, as far as the agent knows it, otherwise in your parent's best interest, in good faith and within the authority granted. Unless the document says otherwise, the agent also keeps their own money separate from your parent's and records every receipt, payment and transaction on your parent's behalf. The law lists who can demand those records: your parent, a guardian, a conservator or another fiduciary acting for your parent, a government agency with authority to protect your parent's welfare, a court, and after death the estate's personal representative or successor in interest. Your parent's other children aren't on that list while your parent is alive, but a court is.

What does a power of attorney cost in Berks County, and when does a lawyer help?

A lawyer new to you has to put the fee's basis in writing; how lawyers charge in Berks County explains. Miller Law Group in West Lawn says its flat fees for power of attorney work "typically ranges from $750 for a basic durable financial POA to $1,800–$3,500 for comprehensive packages that include healthcare directives, springing provisions, and full estate planning integration."

Resolution Law Group in Reading prices a couple's set of two wills, two powers of attorney and two living wills at $1,000.

The Berks County Bar Association's referral service (610-375-4591) charges a $50 cash referral fee, $10 for people 65 and older. Its Modest Means Program covers estate planning at a discounted rate for people whose income is somewhat above the legal aid line (the Bar's words: it "exceeds legal aid standards by 75%"), with MidPenn Legal Services doing the income screening. The SeniorLAW HelpLine, 1-877-727-7529, gives free legal advice to Pennsylvanians 60 and older, and free and low-cost legal help in Berks County has the rest.

Frequently asked questions about powers of attorney in Pennsylvania.

Who makes medical decisions if there's no health care power of attorney?

Pennsylvania names a health care representative, the person the law lets decide when there's no health care power of attorney, in this order unless your parent wrote another: the spouse (unless a divorce is pending, and together with any adult children from another relationship), then an adult child, a parent, an adult sibling, an adult grandchild, and then an adult who knows your parent's values.

Does a power of attorney end when my parent dies?

Yes. The financial one ends at death, and the health care one does too, except for organ donation, the remains and autopsy consent; how probate works at the Berks Register of Wills covers what happens next, and what a will costs in Pennsylvania who inherits.

This week, settle which documents your parent needs and get them signed; the county lawyers page has the firms. After a parent can no longer sign, the broad route to the money is guardianship, a court order.

Sources