A power of attorney for a single act costs from a few dozen to two hundred złoty net, plus wypisy. Powers of attorney for a bank account are usually free or cost a token amount under the bank's fee table. For many matters a notary is not needed at all, because ordinary written form is enough.
When a notary is genuinely needed
Most powers of attorney do not require a visit to a notary office. Ordinary written form is enough to collect correspondence, handle a matter at a clinic or act in a typical administrative case.
A notary becomes necessary when the act itself requires notarial form. The most common case is property: for a representative to sell or buy a flat on your behalf, the power of attorney has to take the same form as the contract.
A bank power of attorney is a separate track
A bank will not honour a power of attorney written at home, and usually not even a notarial one unless it was prepared for the bank’s own procedure. Authority over an account is granted at the bank, on its form, and that normally costs nothing. A visit to a notary office does not replace that one visit to the branch.
What pushes the bill up
The final amount is the notarial fee, VAT and wypisy charged per started page. A general power of attorney covering a wider range of matters costs more than authority for one specific act. If you need several counterparts for different institutions, order the copies at once. Collecting them later means another visit.
What a power of attorney will not do
It expires on the death of the person who granted it. This is the most common misunderstanding: the family assumes that access to an account during someone’s lifetime carries over after their death. It does not. A power of attorney works during life and for illness or travel, not instead of a will or a death-benefit instruction.
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