Who can make decisions for me
The Decisions package is the four documents that answer one question - who can act for you, for your health and for your money, if you cannot act for yourself.
$29, or $16 for a second household member ($45 for both). Includes 24 months of changes.
What you pay counts in full toward a package.
Who this is for
- You know you need "a power of attorney" and have found out there are two of them.
- You are healthy and want the incapacity side covered before you tackle the will.
- A parent has asked you to help them get this in place.
- You want your partner recognised by a hospital and a bank, and nothing is in writing yet.
What it does not do
- It contains no will. It says nothing about who inherits what, and it does nothing after you die.
- It nominates no guardian for children. That belongs in a will, or in the separate guardian nomination.
- Every power of attorney in it ends at your death.
How to sign it in your state
Pennsylvania
Healthcare Power of Attorney
The principal signs before two qualified witnesses; notarization is not a substitute for the witness ceremony.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The healthcare agent may not witness. Use witnesses who are not signing on the principal's behalf.
20 Pa.C.S. § 5452
Financial Power of Attorney
The principal signs with two adult witnesses and a notary acknowledgment.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
Who cannot witness: The agent may not witness. The notary may not witness. A person signing for the principal may not witness.
20 Pa.C.S. §§ 5601(b), 5601.3
Agent's Certification of Power of Attorney
Sign using the notarial certificate and capacity shown in the document.
- Witnesses: none required for this signing route. Use them only if the printed signing page calls for them.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
Living Will / Advance Instruction
The principal signs before two qualified witnesses; notarization is not a substitute for the witness ceremony.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The healthcare agent may not witness. Use witnesses who are not signing on the principal's behalf.
20 Pa.C.S. § 5452
HIPAA Authorization
The principal signs before two qualified witnesses; notarization is not a substitute for the witness ceremony.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The healthcare agent may not witness. Use witnesses who are not signing on the principal's behalf.
20 Pa.C.S. § 5452
New York
Healthcare Power of Attorney
The principal signs before two adult witnesses. Do not notarize this healthcare-proxy execution.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The appointed healthcare agent may not serve as a witness.
N.Y. Public Health Law § 2981
Financial Power of Attorney
The principal signs before a notary and exactly two qualified witnesses.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
Who cannot witness: Do not use an agent or a permissible recipient of gifts as a witness.
N.Y. GOL §§ 5-1501B, 5-1513
Agent's Certification of Power of Attorney
Sign using the notarial certificate and capacity shown in the document.
- Witnesses: none required for this signing route. Use them only if the printed signing page calls for them.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
Living Will / Advance Instruction
The principal signs before two adult witnesses. Do not notarize this healthcare-proxy execution.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The appointed healthcare agent may not serve as a witness.
N.Y. Public Health Law § 2981
HIPAA Authorization
The principal signs before two adult witnesses. Do not notarize this healthcare-proxy execution.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: no. Notarization is not used for this signing route.
Who cannot witness: The appointed healthcare agent may not serve as a witness.
N.Y. Public Health Law § 2981
New Jersey
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Use either two adult witnesses or the document's notary/attorney acknowledgment route.
- Witnesses: 2, or use the acknowledgment route printed on the document instead.
- Notary: an alternative to the witnesses, not an addition to them.
Who cannot witness: Do not use the designated healthcare representative as a witness.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-56
Financial Power of Attorney
The principal signs before a notary or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments.
- Witnesses: none required for this signing route. Use them only if the printed signing page calls for them.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
N.J.S.A. 46:2B-8.9
Agent's Certification of Power of Attorney
Sign using the notarial certificate and capacity shown in the document.
- Witnesses: none required for this signing route. Use them only if the printed signing page calls for them.
- Notary: yes, the signature is acknowledged before a notary.
Living Will / Advance Instruction
Use either two adult witnesses or the document's notary/attorney acknowledgment route.
- Witnesses: 2, or use the acknowledgment route printed on the document instead.
- Notary: an alternative to the witnesses, not an addition to them.
Who cannot witness: Do not use the designated healthcare representative as a witness.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-56
HIPAA Authorization
Use either two adult witnesses or the document's notary/attorney acknowledgment route.
- Witnesses: 2, or use the acknowledgment route printed on the document instead.
- Notary: an alternative to the witnesses, not an addition to them.
Who cannot witness: Do not use the designated healthcare representative as a witness.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-56
Get started
Most people arrive at estate planning through a will, and then discover that the documents they actually needed first were these. A will does nothing until you die. These four work in the years before that, in the weeks when you are in hospital, or in the decade when you are no longer able to manage your own affairs.
The package is four documents because the job splits four ways: who decides about your health, who handles your money, what you want if you are dying, and who is allowed to be told anything at all. Buying them together costs less than buying them separately, and the page shows both totals.
If you later want the will and the rest of the plan, everything you paid here comes off the price.
Common questions
What is in the package?
A healthcare power of attorney, a financial power of attorney with the agent's certification, a living will, and a HIPAA authorization. Four documents, one set of questions, one signing plan.
Why buy the package rather than the documents separately?
It costs less than the same documents bought one at a time, and the questions are asked once instead of four times. The page shows both numbers so you can check.
Do I need a will as well?
Almost certainly, and it is a separate purchase. These four documents work while you are alive. A will works after you die. What you pay here counts in full toward the Will and Essentials package if you add it later.
Can my partner and I both be covered?
Yes. The household price covers a second member of your household, with their own set of documents naming their own agents. It is not one shared document.
Can I sign all four at once?
Mostly. The financial power of attorney needs a notary in Pennsylvania and New York; the healthcare documents generally do not. Airlooms works out which documents can share a signing session in your state.
Included in
- Will & Essentials, $69 for 18 documents, 55% less than buying the pieces. See what is in it
- Trust & Property, $129 for 28 documents, 57% less than buying the pieces. See what is in it