Chap. 486.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 2501 of the Code of Virginia,
as amended and re-enacted by an act approved February 10, 1890, as amended
and re-enacted by an act approved February 28, 1896, in relation to certificates
of acknowledgments.

Approved December 24, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the genera] assembly of Virginia, That section
twenty-five hundred and one of the Code of Virginia, as amended by an
act approved February tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and as
amended and re-enacted by an act approved February twenty-eighth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled an act to amend and re-enact
section twenty-five hundred and one of the Code of Virginia, in relation
te certificates of acknowledgment, be amended and re-enacted so as to
read as follows:

§ 2501. Certificates of acknowledgment upon which writings are ad-
mitted to record; who may take them.—Such court or clerk shall also ad-
mit any such writing to record as to any person whose name is signed
thereto upon a certificate of his acknowledgment before the said clerk,
or before the clerk of any court of record in this State, or before the
clerk of any court without this State, but within the United States, or be-
fore a justice, a commissioner in chancery of a court of record, or a
notary within the United States, or in the Philippine Islands, Porto Rico,
or in any territory or other possession or dependency of the United States,
written on or annexed to the same, to the following effect, to-wit:

County (or corporation) of , to-wit: I, ————,, clerk (or
deputy clerk) of ————— court (or a justice of the peace, or commis-
sioner in chancery of the ————— court, or notary public), for the
county (or corporation) aforesaid, in the State (or territory or district)
of ————, do certify that E. F. (or E. F. and G. H., and so forth).
whose name (or names) is (or are) signed to the writing above (or hereto
annexed), bearing date on the ——-——- day of ——_——-, has (or have)
acknowledged the aame before me, in my county (or corporation) afore-
said. Given under my hand this ——_—— day of -———.

Or upon the certificate of acknowledgment of such person before anv
commissioner appointed by the governor, within the United States, so
written or annexed, to the following effect, to-wit:

State (or territory or district) of ————, to-wit: I, —_——., a
commissioner appointed by the governor of the State of Virginia for the
said State (or territory or district) of ——-——, certify that E. F. (or
E. F. and G. H., and so forth), whose name (or names) is (or are) signed
to the writing above (or hereto annexed), bearing date on the
day of —————,, has (or have) acknowledged the same before me in my
State (or territory or district) aforesaid. Given under my hand this
day of ————.

Or upon the certificate of the clerk of any court of record in this State,
or the clerk of any court out of this State and within the United States,
that the said writing was proved as to him by two witnesses before such
clerk or before the court of which he is clerk, or upon the certificate,
under the official seal of any ambassador, minister plenipotentiary, min-
ister resident, charge d’affaires, consul-general, consul, vice-consul, or
commercial agent appointed by the government of the United States to
any foreign country, or of the proper officer of any court of such country,
or of the mayor or other chief magistrate of any city, town, or corpora-
-tion therein, that the said writing was acknowledged by such person or
proved as to him by two witnesses before any person having such appoint-
ment, or before such court, mayor, or chief magistrate; and where any
such writing purports to have been signed in behalf or by authority of
any person or corporation, or in any representative capacity whatsoever,
the certificate of the acknewledgment by the person so signing the said
writing shall be sufficient fur the purposes of this and the preceding sec-
tion, and for the admission of said writing to record as to the person or
corporation on whose behalf it is signed, or as to the representative char-
acter of the person so signing the same, as the case may be, without ex-
pressing that such acknowledgment was in behalf or by authority of such
other person or corporation, or was in a representative capacity. In the
case of a writing signed in behalf or by authority of any person or cor-

poration, or in any repfesentative capacity, a certificate to the following
effect shall be sufficient :

State (or territory or district) of ————, county (or corporation)
of ————., to-wit: I, —————, a —————_ (here insert the official
title of the person certifying the acknowledginent in and for the State
(or territory or district) and county (or corporation) aforesaid, do cer-
tify that ————— (here insert the name or names of the persons sign-
ing the writing on behalf of the person or corporation, or the name of
the person signing the writing in a representative capacity), whose name
(or names) is (or are) signed to the writing above, bearing date on the

day of —————, has (or have) acknowledged the same before
me in my county (or corporation) aforesaid. Given under my hand this
day of ————.

And where authority is given in this or tlie preceding section to the
clerk of a court in or out of this State, but within the Tinited States, such
authority may be exercised by his duly qualified deputy.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.
T52 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.