How it works. Pick the state and whether the document is financial or healthcare. You get the signing steps in order (official form, notary, witnesses, the agent's acknowledgment, recording for real estate), each marked required, optional or not confirmed, with the official link.
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West Virginia: financial power of attorney
2 steps required
- Recommended or optionalStatutory formStart from the official form: Statutory form power of attorney (W. Va. Code 39B-3-101). Section 39B-3-101 sets out the form. Have a lawyer review it before anyone signs. Open the official form
- RequiredNotarySign in front of a notary, who completes an acknowledgment. The power of attorney is acknowledged by the principal before a notary or other official.
"acknowledged by the principal before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments."
- Not requiredWitnessesThe execution section doesn't require witnesses.
"must be signed by the principal or in the principal's conscious presence by another individual"
- Not requiredAgent's acknowledgmentNo signed acceptance is required before acting. An agent accepts by acting or other conduct showing acceptance.
"by exercising authority or performing duties as an agent"
- RequiredRecording for real estateIf the agent will sign a deed or mortgage, record the power of attorney with the county. For several real property powers (39B-2-104(b)), the power of attorney must first be recorded with the clerk of the county commission where the property is.
"must first be recorded in the office of the clerk of the county commission"
- Good to knowDurable after incapacityDurable unless it says incapacity ends it.
"is durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal."
Official sources: West Virginia Code chapter 39B, Uniform Power of Attorney Act (West Virginia Legislature) · More on this state
Print this page to take to the signing.
On the day
The principal signs in front of the notary and any witnesses, after the notary checks ID. If the principal is in a hospital or care home, see notarizing a power of attorney in a hospital; for medical decisions, see signing a healthcare proxy. For every state on one page, see power of attorney requirements by state.
Signing in New Jersey? MCC Solutions provides mobile notarization, hospital notarization and remote online notarization for New Jersey signers. Elsewhere, a local notary can help.
General information, not legal advice; we are not lawyers. Checked November 2026 against the official pages linked in each checklist. Signing rules change, and a power of attorney gives someone real control over money or medical decisions: have a lawyer prepare or review it. A notary identifies the signer and completes the certificate; a notary doesn't draft the document or explain what it does.
Questions about the checklist
Which state's rules apply?
Pick the state whose law the document is made under, usually where the principal lives and signs. When the principal lives in one state and the property or the bank is in another, ask a lawyer which state's form and signing rules to follow.
What do the labels mean?
Required is a stated condition on the official page. Your choice of two means a notary or witnesses will do. Recommended or optional means the law doesn't demand it but it helps in practice. Not confirmed means no official page we opened said, so nothing is guessed.
Can the agent be a witness or the notary?
Where our sources list witness rules, the agent is barred (Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania), and some also bar relatives, heirs or caregivers (Arizona, Illinois, Washington). Pennsylvania and Iowa say the agent can't take the acknowledgment.
Is this a power of attorney form?
No. The checklist tells you how a document is signed, and links the state's official form where one exists. Have a lawyer prepare or review the power of attorney itself.
Does the checklist save what I choose?
No. The page reads your choices from the address bar and builds the list on the server. Nothing is stored, and it works without JavaScript.