How it works. Pick the state and whether the document is financial or healthcare. You get the signing steps in order (official form, notary, witnesses, the agent's acknowledgment, recording for real estate), each marked required, optional or not confirmed, with the official link.
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Pennsylvania: financial power of attorney
3 steps required
- Not requiredStatutory formChapter 56 has no fill-in statutory power of attorney form. Every power of attorney must carry the statutory notice (5601(c)), and the agent signs the statutory acknowledgment (5601(d)). A lawyer can prepare the document.
- RequiredNotarySign in front of a notary, who completes an acknowledgment. The signature is acknowledged before a notary or other official, who can't be the agent.
"shall not be the agent designated in the power of attorney"
- RequiredWitnessesTwo witnesses sign too. Two adult witnesses, who can't be the agent, the notary or anyone signing for the principal.
"A witness shall not be the individual who signed the power of attorney on behalf of and at the direction of the principal."
- RequiredAgent's acknowledgmentThe agent signs before acting. The agent has no authority until the agent signs and attaches the statutory acknowledgment of duties.
"has first executed and affixed to the power of attorney an acknowledgment"
- Recommended or optionalRecording for real estateRecording is allowed but not required. An acknowledged power of attorney may be recorded in the recorder of deeds office; chapter 56 doesn't require it.
"it may be recorded in the office for the recording of deeds."
- Good to knowDurable after incapacityAll powers of attorney are durable unless they say otherwise.
"all powers of attorney shall be durable"
Official sources: 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56, Powers of Attorney (Pennsylvania General Assembly) · 20 Pa.C.S. 5452, Execution of health care power of attorney (Pennsylvania General Assembly) · Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission: Powers of Attorney report (2010): amend Chapter 56 rather than adopt the uniform act; the statutory notice and agent's acknowledgment · More on this state
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Get it notarized online today
Online notary: open now until 9 PM ET · sessions by appointment · times confirmed by email
A New Jersey notary can notarize this with you on a video call, wherever you are in the U.S. $50 for the session, $10 for each extra signer. Any other fee shows in the booking form before you confirm. Open 7 am to 9 pm ET, every day, by appointment.
What you need
- A valid government photo ID
- A computer or phone with a camera
- The unsigned document
Our certificate states the act was performed using communication technology, as New Jersey law requires. What it must say
Most U.S. recipients accept a remotely notarized document; check with whoever will receive it. What to ask them · Several signers
On the day
The principal signs in front of the notary and any witnesses, after the notary checks ID. If the principal is in a hospital or care home, see notarizing a power of attorney in a hospital; for medical decisions, see signing a healthcare proxy. For every state on one page, see power of attorney requirements by state.
Signing in New Jersey? MCC Solutions provides mobile notarization, hospital notarization and remote online notarization for New Jersey signers. Elsewhere, a local notary can help.
General information, not legal advice; we are not lawyers. Checked November 2026 against the official pages linked in each checklist. Signing rules change, and a power of attorney gives someone real control over money or medical decisions: have a lawyer prepare or review it. A notary identifies the signer and completes the certificate; a notary doesn't draft the document or explain what it does.
Questions about the checklist
Which state's rules apply?
Pick the state whose law the document is made under, usually where the principal lives and signs. When the principal lives in one state and the property or the bank is in another, ask a lawyer which state's form and signing rules to follow.
What do the labels mean?
Required is a stated condition on the official page. Your choice of two means a notary or witnesses will do. Recommended or optional means the law doesn't demand it but it helps in practice. Not confirmed means no official page we opened said, so nothing is guessed.
Can the agent be a witness or the notary?
Where our sources list witness rules, the agent is barred (Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania), and some also bar relatives, heirs or caregivers (Arizona, Illinois, Washington). Pennsylvania and Iowa say the agent can't take the acknowledgment.
Is this a power of attorney form?
No. The checklist tells you how a document is signed, and links the state's official form where one exists. Have a lawyer prepare or review the power of attorney itself.
Does the checklist save what I choose?
No. The page reads your choices from the address bar and builds the list on the server. Nothing is stored, and it works without JavaScript.