It feels natural to expect your family to make the best choices if you are incapacitated or disabled. Well, this is hardly the case. It is advisable to hire a party with no family ties to you to make the decisions.
This is where the need for a power of attorney, (POA) arises. It helps ensure that you and your property are protected if you are incapacitated or otherwise unavailable. The stipulations for the POA are different. Here, we will be focussing on Pennsylvania power of attorney forms.
What Does the Pennsylvania Power of Attorney mean?
Under its Pennsylvania statutory laws, the power of attorney PA is a legal instrument drawn to appoint someone else to act on your behalf. It could be matters related to health, finance, or even estate.
The person giving the power (principal,) assigns the specific authority to their representative, agent. This document is only drawn if the principal is of sound mind and can comprehend the complexities involved.
The PA power of attorney form should be signed and notarized by licensed parties. Once signed, its use can start immediately. A principal can draw different kinds of power of attorney forms based on their requirements.
Who Will Need a PA Power of Attorney Form?
Sometimes a person who is elderly, mentally ill, or even perfectly healthy may need someone to handle their affairs. In such a case, the Pennsylvania power of attorney document comes in handy.
As a Pennsylvania resident, a power of attorney helps you have someone make legal decisions on your behalf temporarily or permanently in cases of the PA durable power of attorney form. It also ensures choices about your money and health care are made in your best interest.
Without a POA document in place that enables a named agent to step in, nobody may have the legal right to do so. For instance, nobody may have the right to take the IRA distributions you need for funds to pay medical bills.
How to Fill in the Power of Attorney PA Form?
To set up a power of attorney, both the parties must fill out and sign the power of attorney forms Pennsylvania offers. You don’t have to go through the hustle of drafting one. Some online sites provide these forms.
The platform offers you a drafted template of the formal Pennsylvania power of attorney form. It complies with the regulations outlined in chapter 56 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.
All you need is an internet-enabled device and internet connectivity. Visit the website with the forms and navigate to the templates section. Access the template in a fillable format and proceed to enter your details and what you need the attorney to do.
Send the form’s link to your attorney to fill and sign their part via email. You can also involve the public notary this way. If you don’t have a digital signature to use, there are ways to create one and use it on the form.
Once you are through, save the form and then send it to your attorney and anyone else who needs it for safe record keeping. If you need a hard copy, downloading and printing are also possible.
Types of Pennsylvania Power of Attorney Forms
The state of Pennsylvania offers different types of forms in this niche that can be of help.
Some of the PA power of attorney forms include:
- Pennsylvania General/Financial Power of Attorney
This simple power of attorney form allows you to give general or specific powers to an agent. This mainly revolves around making financial decisions on your behalf. Such choices may vary from operating a business, accessing accounts, to even handling investments.
However, this form does not remain in effect if the principal becomes incapacitated.
- Pennsylvania Medical Power of Attorney
This Pennsylvania power of attorney form allows you to specify what kind of medical care you wish to receive. It applies in the case you become unable to make the decision yourself.
The decisions can include what kind of treatment you receive.
- Pennsylvania Durable Power of Attorney
A Pennsylvania durable power of attorney form focuses on how an agent can act on your behalf if you become incapacitated. It has the name durable because the document doesn’t terminate when the principal becomes incapacitated.
- Pennsylvania Limited Power of Attorney
Using this form, you can select someone else to stand in your place, just for one assignment.
The principal can choose to have the document terminate upon completing the task or after a set date. The agent must carry out all functions described in this PA POA form.
Conclusion
The Pennsylvania POA form is helpful in case you want someone to take care of your affairs. In the event you become what Pennsylvania law refers to as disabled or incapacitated, someone will be there to keep things running.
It also gives you more control over processes handling should the need ever arise. Since Pennsylvania does not provide a standard form, you may wish to draft one. However, to avoid any human errors, it is best to use the pre-drafted forms.
