§ 5601. General provisions
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 20 Pa.C.S.A. Decedents, Estates and FiduciariesEffective: January 1, 2015
Effective: January 1, 2015
20 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601
§ 5601. General provisions
(a) General rule.--In addition to all other powers that may be delegated to an agent, any or all of the powers referred to in section 5602(a) (relating to form of power of attorney) may lawfully be granted in writing to an agent and, unless the power of attorney expressly directs to the contrary, shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(3) For a power of attorney executed on or after the effective date of this paragraph,1 the signature or mark of the principal, or the signature of another individual signing a power of attorney on behalf of and at the direction of the principal, shall be:
(ii) Witnessed by two individuals, each of whom is 18 years of age or older. A witness shall not be the individual who signed the power of attorney on behalf of and at the direction of the principal, the agent designated in the power of attorney or the notary public or other person authorized by law to take acknowledgments before whom the power of attorney is acknowledged. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an acknowledgment of a power of attorney before a member of the bar of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the manner authorized by 42 Pa.C.S. § 327(a) (relating to oaths and acknowledgments) certified in the manner provided by 57 Pa.C.S. § 316(2.1) (relating to short form certificates) provided the attorney taking the acknowledgment does not act as one of the two witnesses required by this paragraph.
(c) Notice.--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. In the absence of a signed notice, upon a challenge to the authority of an agent to exercise a power under the power of attorney, the agent shall have the burden of demonstrating that the exercise of this authority is proper.
NOTICE
The purpose of this power of attorney is to give the person you designate (your “agent”) broad powers to handle your property, which may include powers to sell or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property without advance notice to you or approval by you.
This power of attorney does not impose a duty on your agent to exercise granted powers, but, when powers are exercised, your agent must use due care to act for your benefit and in accordance with this power of attorney.
Your agent may exercise the powers given here throughout your lifetime, even after you become incapacitated, unless you expressly limit the duration of these powers or you revoke these powers or a court acting on your behalf terminates your agent's authority.
Your agent must act in accordance with your reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by your agent and, otherwise, in your best interest, act in good faith and act only within the scope of authority granted by you in the power of attorney.
The law permits you, if you choose, to grant broad authority to an agent under power of attorney, including the ability to give away all of your property while you are alive or to substantially change how your property is distributed at your death. Before signing this document, you should seek the advice of an attorney at law to make sure you understand it.
A court can take away the powers of your agent if it finds your agent is not acting properly.
The powers and duties of an agent under a power of attorney are explained more fully in 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 56.
If there is anything about this form that you do not understand, you should ask a lawyer of your own choosing to explain it to you.
I have read or had explained to me this notice and I understand its contents.
(Principal) | (Date) |
I, .........., have read the attached power of attorney and am the person identified as the agent for the principal. I hereby acknowledge that when I act as agent:
I shall act in accordance with the principal's reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by me and, otherwise, in the principal's best interest, act in good faith and act only within the scope of authority granted to me by the principal in the power of attorney.
(Agent) | (Date) |
(vi) A power given to a dealer as defined by the act of December 22, 1983 (P.L. 306, No. 84),2 known as the Board of Vehicles Act, when using the power in conjunction with a sale, purchase or transfer of a vehicle as authorized by 75 Pa.C.S. § 1119 (relating to application for certificate of title by agent).
“Agent.” A person designated by a principal in a power of attorney to act on behalf of that principal.
“Good faith.” Honesty in fact.
Credits
1982, Feb. 18, P.L. 45, No. 26, § 9, imd. effective. Amended 1992, Dec. 16, P.L. 1163, No. 152, § 12, imd. effective; 1999, Oct. 12, P.L. 422, No. 39, § 8; 2002, May 16, P.L. 330, No. 50, § 9.1, effective April 12, 2000; 2003, Nov. 25, P.L. 211, No. 36, § 1, effective in 60 days [Jan. 26, 2004]; 2014, July 2, P.L. 855, No. 95, § 1; 2016, July 8, P.L. 497, No. 79, § 6, effective Jan. 1, 2017; 2016, Oct. 4, P.L. 867, No. 103, § 1, retroactive effective Jan. 1, 2015.
Footnotes
Subsec. (b)(3) added by 2014, July 2, P.L. 855, No. 95, § 1, effective Jan. 1, 2015.
63 P.S. § 818.1 et seq.
20 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601, PA ST 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601
Current through the end of the 2023 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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