Medical power of attorney for Pennsylvania
A healthcare power of attorney names one person who can make medical decisions for you at the moment you cannot make them yourself.
$14, or $7 for a second household member ($21 for both). Includes 6 months of changes.
What you pay counts in full toward a package.
Who this is for
- You want your partner, or a particular sibling, to be the one the doctors listen to.
- Your family would disagree about your care, and you would rather decide now who has the last word.
- You are having surgery or starting treatment and want someone named before you go in.
- You are an adult child of ageing parents and none of you has ever put this in writing.
What it does not do
- It is not a HIPAA authorization. Naming an agent lets that one person decide; a HIPAA authorization lets the people you list receive information.
- It says nothing about your money. A financial power of attorney is a separate document.
- It does not, on its own, state your wishes about life-sustaining treatment. That is the living will, and the two are usually signed together.
- Your agent can only act when a doctor determines you cannot decide for yourself.
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
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
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
Get started
If you cannot speak for yourself, someone will make medical decisions for you. This document decides who. Without one, the hospital works down a list set by state law, which may not put the person who knows you best at the top, and disagreement inside a family can end up in front of a judge.
The document is short and it is the one most people can finish in a single sitting. What takes the time is the conversation with the person you name, and that is worth having before anything happens.
New York deserves a note of its own. The health care proxy is signed before two adult witnesses and is not notarized, and the agent you appoint may not be one of the witnesses. A form that asks for a notary is not a New York form.
Common questions
Is a health care proxy the same thing as a medical power of attorney?
In practice yes. New York's statute calls the document a health care proxy; Pennsylvania and New Jersey call the equivalent document a healthcare power of attorney or healthcare representative designation. Airlooms builds the form your state uses.
Does it need a notary?
In New York, no. A health care proxy is signed before two adult witnesses and is not notarized. Pennsylvania also uses two witnesses. New Jersey lets you choose between two witnesses and an acknowledgment route printed on the document.
Can the person I name also be a witness?
No. The agent you appoint cannot serve as a witness in any of the three states.
Do I still need a living will?
They answer different questions. The healthcare power of attorney names who decides. A living will states what you want if you are permanently unconscious or in an end-stage condition. Signing both means your agent knows what you would have chosen.
What if I am away from home when something happens?
Most states honour a document validly executed where it was signed. If you spend a lot of time in another state, consider signing one there too.
Included in
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