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PRINTER'S NO. 527
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
535
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY BIZZARRO, CALTAGIRONE, SOLOMON, HILL-EVANS, FLYNN,
READSHAW, FREEMAN, YOUNGBLOOD, BERNSTINE, GOODMAN, McNEILL,
MURT, B. MILLER, DeLUCA, NEILSON, SNYDER, McCLINTON,
PASHINSKI, KORTZ AND T. DAVIS, FEBRUARY 19, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 19, 2019
AN ACT
Amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in powers of attorney,
further providing for general provisions and for durable
powers of attorney.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 5601(c) and (d) and 5604(d) of Title 20
of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
§ 5601. General provisions.
* * *
(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
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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.
If you believe that you are a victim of financial abuse
by your agent and you are a senior citizen, you may call the
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Department of Aging, 1-800-490-8505. The hotline is open 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
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)
(d) Acknowledgment executed by agent.--An agent shall have
no authority to act as agent under the power of attorney unless
the agent has first executed and affixed to the power of
attorney an acknowledgment in substantially the following form:
I, , have read the attached power of
attorney and am the person identified as the agent for
the principal. I understand that if any intentional act
or omission on my part as the agent causes harm to the
principal, I may be subject to criminal penalties. 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)
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* * *
§ 5604. Durable powers of attorney.
* * *
(d) Discovery of information and records regarding actions
of agent.--
(1) If the agency acting pursuant to the act of November
6, 1987 (P.L.381, No.79), known as the Older Adults
Protective Services Act, is denied access to records
necessary for the completion of a proper investigation of a
report or a client assessment and service plan or the
delivery of needed services in order to prevent further
abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of the older
adult principal reported to be in need of protective
services, the agency may petition the court of common pleas
for an order requiring the appropriate access when [either]
any of the following conditions [applies] are met:
(i) the older adult principal has provided written
consent for confidential records to be disclosed and the
agent denies access; [or]
(ii) the agency can demonstrate that the older adult
principal has denied or directed the agent to deny access
to the records because of incompetence, coercion,
extortion or justifiable fear of future abuse, neglect,
exploitation or abandonment[.]; or
(iii) the agency has a good faith belief that a
crime has been committed and alleges that the principal
lacks the capacity to provide consent to the release of
confidential records.
(2) This petition may be filed in the county wherein the
agent resides or has his principal place of business or, if a
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nonresident, in the county wherein the older adult principal
resides. The court, after reasonable notice to the agent and
to the older adult principal, may conduct a hearing on the
petition.
(3) Upon the failure of the agent to provide the
requested information, the court may make and enforce such
further orders.
(4) A determination to grant or deny an order, whether
in whole or in part, shall not be considered a finding
regarding the competence, capacity or impairment of the older
adult principal, nor shall the granting or denial of an order
preclude the availability of other remedies involving
protection of the person or estate of the older adult
principal or the rights and duties of the agent.
* * *
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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