October 14th, 2016

Additional Changes to Power of Attorney Law

Back in July, I shared a brief overview of several changes to the POA law made earlier this year (Act 79 of 2016). Those changes contained minor yet important clarifications which you can read more about in my prior blog post. Since then, the House suggested additional changes to the POA law and Governor Wolf has now formally signed House Bill 665 into law on October 4, 2016 (Act 103 of 2016), enacting further modifications to Pennsylvania’s POA law.

Act 103 provides that i) an individual signing a POA for someone else cannot sign by using a mark, but must provide their actual signature, ii) a lawyer who takes an acknowledgement of the individual signing the POA  may not also sign as one of the two required witnesses on the POA document, iii)  certain commercial and business related powers of attorney are exempt from various execution , notice and acknowledgement requirements otherwise pertaining to POAs,  and iv) powers of attorneys dealing exclusively with health care decisions are exempt from  various formalities otherwise applicable to other power s of attorney.

For more information on Powers of Attorney and their impact on your estate, call 610.820.5450 to speak with me or one of our other experienced estate planning and elder law attorneys.

The content found in this resource is for informational reference use only and is not considered legal advice. Laws at all levels of government change frequently and the information found here may be or become outdated. It is recommended to consult your attorney for the most up-to-date information regarding current laws and legal matters.