A Will Isn't Enough: Why Your Aging Parent Needs a Power of Attorney

Key Takeaways:

• A will generally governs what happens after death and does not authorize someone to manage a parent’s affairs during life.
• A power of attorney can give a trusted person authority to handle financial matters if a parent can no longer do so.
• Pennsylvania courts must consider less restrictive alternatives, including powers of attorney, before appointing a guardian.
• Planning before incapacity can give your parent more control over who helps them and may reduce the need for court involvement.

A will can be an important part of your parent’s estate plan in Pennsylvania, but it does not give you authority to step in simply because your mom or dad becomes sick, injured, or unable to manage financial matters. That is where powers of attorney and other incapacity-planning documents become important. 

A Paoli estate planning attorney can help your parent decide who should have authority to act during their lifetime and make sure those documents work alongside their will and other estate planning documents. Planning now can give your family clearer options if a health crisis or loss of capacity occurs.

What a Will Actually Covers in Pennsylvania

A will directs how your parent’s property is distributed after death and names an executor to carry out those instructions. A will does not take effect until your parent dies. 

If your parent is hospitalized, develops dementia, or is simply too unwell to manage a checkbook, the will sits untouched in a drawer — it offers no mechanism for anyone to step in on your parent’s behalf. Wills also need periodic updates as circumstances change, which is worth reviewing regularly with an attorney alongside any power of attorney your parent signs.

Why a Power of Attorney Matters While Your Parent Is Still Living

A power of attorney is a separate legal document in which your parent, as the principal, names someone — often called an agent — to act on their behalf. Under Pennsylvania law, a power of attorney is generally presumed to be durable unless the document specifically provides otherwise, meaning the agent’s authority can continue after the principal becomes incapacitated. 

Without adequate incapacity planning, a family may have fewer options and, in some cases, may need to seek guardianship.

Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney lets your parent’s agent pay bills, manage bank accounts, handle investments, and deal with property. If your parent is hospitalized for an extended stay or can no longer keep up with mail and deadlines, and if the power of attorney is already effective and grants the necessary authority, a trusted agent may be able to handle covered financial matters without first obtaining a guardianship order. 

Banks and other institutions may still review the document before accepting the agent’s authority.

Health Care Power of Attorney

A health care power of attorney lets your parent choose who should make health care decisions and can reduce uncertainty or family conflict. If your parent is unable to make health care decisions and no health care agent is available, Pennsylvania law may permit a health care representative, such as a spouse or adult child, to make decisions under a statutory order of priority.

What Happens Without a Power of Attorney in Place

If your parent loses the ability to manage important matters and no adequate advance planning or other less restrictive alternative is available, guardianship may become necessary. Whether it is necessary depends on the decisions that need to be made and what other legal supports are available. 

A Pennsylvania guardianship proceeding generally requires a petition and a hearing. If the alleged incapacitated person has not retained an attorney, the court must appoint counsel to represent them, and an appointed guardian is subject to continuing court oversight and reporting requirements.

This is all while your family is already working through the crisis that made a guardian necessary in the first place. Because guardianship requires a court proceeding, it can add time, expense, and judicial oversight during an already difficult situation.

How Pennsylvania Courts Treat a Power of Attorney as a Less Restrictive Alternative

Before ordering guardianship, a Pennsylvania court must consider whether sufficient family support or a less restrictive alternative can meet the person’s needs and must make findings concerning why available alternatives are insufficient.

In many situations, an effective power of attorney can reduce the need for guardianship because the agent already has authority to handle the matters covered by the document. 

A court may still consider guardianship if the existing arrangement is unavailable, inadequate, disputed, or otherwise insufficient.

If your parent no longer has sufficient capacity to execute a power of attorney, someone else cannot simply sign one for them. At that point, the family will need to determine whether another legal alternative is available or whether guardianship is necessary. Our elder law attorneys frequently help families weigh these options before a crisis, not after one.

Signs It May Be Time to Start the Conversation

Every family’s timeline looks different, but a few patterns tend to signal that a power of attorney conversation shouldn’t wait any longer:

• Unpaid or duplicate bills starting to pile up
• Confusion about medications, appointments, or account balances
• A recent hospitalization, fall, or new diagnosis
• A spouse or sibling who has quietly begun managing things without formal authority
• New reluctance to discuss finances that wasn’t there before

If any of these sound familiar, our caregiver resources and our guidance on planning after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can help you understand what to prioritize first.

Steps to Take if Your Parent Is Willing to Plan Now

If your parent is willing and still able to sign legal documents, the process is usually straightforward. For most Pennsylvania financial powers of attorney executed since January 1, 2015, the principal’s signature must be acknowledged before a notary or other authorized person and witnessed by two adults. The agent, the person signing on the principal’s behalf, and the notary or acknowledging official cannot serve as those witnesses.

Meeting with an attorney who can walk through financial and health care power of attorney options together, while also reviewing whether your parent’s will still matches their current wishes, is the most direct way to close the gap a will alone leaves open. The National Institute on Aging’s checklist for getting affairs in order is also a helpful starting point for organizing these conversations before you meet with an attorney.