such real estate in any manner whatsoever in the same manner as if such purchaser or person had actual notice thereof as of said date. And where such transfer by the payee is so entered on the margin of the deed book subsequent transfers thereof may likewise be entered in the same manner and with like effect. CHAPTER CXI. OF THE AUTHENTICATION AND RECORD OF DEEDS AND OTHER WRITINGS. 87 Va. 33, 385. Sec. 2500. When and where writings admitted to record.-Except As Amended where it is otherwise provided the court of any county or corporation (other 85 Va. 456. 1895-6, p. 542. than the city of Richmond) in which any writing is to be or may be re- 86 Va. 67, 721. corded and the chancery court of the city of Richmond when any such writing is to be or may be recorded in the said city, or the clerk of any such court, in his office shall admit to record any such writing as to any person whose name is signed thereto when it shall have been acknowledged by him or proved by two witnesses as to him in such court or before such clerk in his office, and when such writing is signed by a person acting on behalf of another, or in any representative capacity, such acknowledg ment before such court or clerk may be in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-five hundred and one. Previous Amendment 1889-90. p. 44. 83 Va. 589. 86 Va. 721. 88 Va. 116. Sec. 2501. Certificates of acknowledgment upon which writings are As Amended admitted to record; who may take them.-Such court or clerk shall 1895-6, p. 542. also admit 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 before a justice, a commissioner in chancery of a court of record, or a notary within the United States written on or annexed to the same, to the following effect, to wit: County (or corporation) of clerk) of cery of the to wit: 1,, clerk (or deputy court (or a justice of the peace or commissioner in chancourt, or notary public) for the county (or corporation) do certify that E. aforesaid in the state (or territory or district) of F. (or E. F. and G. H., and so forth), whose name (or names) is (or are) to wit: I, day of Or upon the certificate of acknowledgment of such person before any 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 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, minister resident, 1887-8, p. 425. As Amended 1893-4, p. 580. Original Act 1891-2, p. 233. As Amended 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 corporation therein that the said writing was acknowledged by such person or proved as to him by two witnesses before any person having such appointment, 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 acknowledgment by the person so signing the said writing shall be sufficient for the purposes of this and the preceding section 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 character of the person so signing the same, as the case may be, without expressing 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 corporation, or in any representative capacity, a certificate to the following effect shall be sufficient: I. State (or territory or district) of a county (or corporation) of to wit: (here insert the official title of the person certifying the acknowledgment) in and for the state (or territory or district) and county (or corporation) aforesaid, do certify that (here insert the name or names of the persons signing the writing on behalf of the person or corporation or the name of the person signing the writing in a representatire capacity) has (or have) acknowledged the same before me in my county (or corporation) aforesaid. Given under my And where authority is given in this or the preceding section to the clerk of a court in or out of this state but within the United States such authority may be exercised by his duly qualified deputy. Sec. 2501 a. To authorize the clerks of circuit courts to take acknowledgments to deeds and other writings, and to certify the same.The clerk of any circuit court of this commonwealth be and he is hereby authorized to take in his office acknowledgments to deeds and other writings and to certify the same for recordation in accordance with section two thousand five hundred and one of the code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. Sec. 2501 b. To allow notaries public or other officers who hold stock in companies to take acknowledgments to deeds or other writings which said companies execute, provided said notaries or other officers are in no otherwise interested.-No acknowledgment heretofore or hereafter taken to any deed or other writing executed by a company or for the benefit of a company shall be held to be invalid by reason of said acknowledgment having been taken by a notary public or other officer who at the time of taking said acknowledgment was a stockholder or officer in the company which executed said deed or writing and who was in no otherwise interested in the property conveyed or disposed of by said deed or writing; and the record of any such deed or writing heretofore made shall in all respects be deemed valid notwithstanding the fact that the notary or other officer was at the time of such acknowledgment a stockholder or officer in the company executing said deed or writing or for the benefit of which such deed or writing was executed: provided, said notary or other officer was in no otherwise interested in the property conveyed or disposed of by said deed or writing when said acknowledgment was taken. Sec. 2502. Admission to record of writing from husband and wife; effect on right of wife.-When a husband and his wife have signed a writing purporting or contracting to convey any estate, real or personal, or 3 Va. L. R. 605. any writing authorizing another to convey or contract to convey any such 91 Va. 694. estate such writing may be admitted to record as to each of them according to the provisions of section twenty-five hundred or twenty-five hundred and one, and when it shall have been so admitted to record as to the husband as well as the wife; or if it be a writing executed under a power of attorney, when such writing as well as such power of attorney shall have been so admitted to record it shall operate to convey from the wife her right of dower in the real estate embraced therein and pass from her and her representatives all right, title, and interest of every nature which at the date of such writing she may have in any estate conveyed or embraced therein as effectually as if she were at the date an unmarried woman. Such writing shall not operate any further upon the wife or her representatives by means of any covenant or warranty contained therein which is not made with reference to her separate estate as a source of credit, or which, if it relate to her said right of dower or to any estate or interest conveyed other than her own, is not made with reference to her separate estate as a source of credit. Sec. 2503. [83 Va. 589; 91 Va. 694.] Sec. 2504. [83 Va. 589; 91 Va. 694.] Sec. 2505. Duty of clerks as to recording writings, &c., and As Amended making index.-Every writing so admitted to record shall with all certifi- 1889-90, p. 128. cates, plats, schedules, and other papers thereto annexed or thereon endorsed be recorded by or under the direction of the clerk in a well-bound book to be carefully preserved. More than one book may be used cotemporaneously for the recordation of such writing under the direction of the clerk whenever it may be necessary to use more than one book in order to the proper conduct of business in his office. And there shall be an index to each of such books as well in the name of the grantee as of the grantor. After being so recorded such writing may be delivered to the party entitled to claim under the same. Sec. 2507. List of writings recorded to be posted by clerk.-The As Amended 1897-8, p. 952. clerk of every county and corporation court shall on the first day of each term set up early in the morning at the front door of the court-house a list of all writings admitted to record under this chapter during and since the preceding term, specifying in such list the date and nature of every such writing, the names of the parties thereto, and the day it was admitted to record, and also describing the property which is the subject thereof. A duplicate of such list shall on the same day be laid before the court and examined by it, and if such duplicate be approved by the court an order shall be entered by the court directing it to be filed with the papers of the term during which it is so approved. Any clerk violating this section shall forfeit one hundred dollars. Sec. 2510 a. Sub-division of tracts of land into lots or parcels and 1887-8, p. 553. for the record of plats thereof.-1. Hereafter every owner or proprietor of any tract of land who has heretofore sub-divided or shall hereafter subdivide the same into three or more parts for the purpose of laying out any town or city or any addition thereto or any part thereof or suburban lots, shall cause a plat of such sub-division with references to known or permanent monuments to be made, which shall accurately describe all the sub-divisions of such tracts or parcels of lands, and giving the dimensions and length and breadth thereof and the breadth and courses of all the streets and alleys established therein. Descriptions of lots or parcels of lands in such sub-divisions, according to the number and designation thereof on said plat, As Amended 1889-90, p. 35. contained in conveyances or for the purpose of taxation and copies of such plats or extracts therefrom, properly attested by the clerk in whose office said plats are recorded, shall have the same force and effect as evidence that copies of deeds now have, shall be deemed good and valid for all intents and purposes. 2. Every such plat shall contain a statement to the effect that the above or foregoing sub-division of (here insert a correct description of the land or parcel sub-divided) as appears in this plat is with the free consent and in accordance with the desire of the undersigned owners and proprietors, which shall be signed by the owners and proprietors and shall be duly acknowledged before some officer authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds, and when thus executed and acknowledged said plat shall be filed for record and be recorded in the office of the clerk of the proper county or corporation court. 3. The acknowledgment and recording of such plat shall operate to create a public easement or right of passage over such portion of the premises platted as is on such plat set apart for streets or other public use, and shall be equivalent to a deed in fee simple to such portion thereof as is therein dedicated to charitable, religious, or educational purposes: provided, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the persons who set apart such lands for streets and alleys, their heirs and assigns, where otherwise they have the right and power to erect, put down, and maintain gas, water, and electric works, pipes, wires, and fixtures to erect, put down, and maintain the same along or under the portions so set apart: provided, however, that they shall not obstruct or hinder passage over such streets or alleys further than is reasonably necessary while laying down, erecting, or repairing such works, pipes, wires, and fixtures. 5. Any such plat may be vacated by the proprietors thereof at any time before the sale of any lot therein by a written instrument declaring the same to be vacated duly executed, acknowledged, or proved and recorded in the same office with the plat to be vacated, and the execution and recording of such writing shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat so vacated and to divest all public rights in the streets, alleys, commons, and public grounds laid out or described in such plat. And in cases where any lots have been sold the plat may be vacated as herein provided by all the owners of lots in such plat joining in the execution of the writing aforesaid. 6. Any part of a plat may be vacated under the provisions and subject to the conditions of this act: provided, such vacating does not abridge or destroy any of the rights or privileges of other proprietors in said plat: and provided, further, that nothing contained in this section shall authorize the closing or obstructing of any public highways laid out according to law. 7. When any part of a plat shall be vacated as aforesaid the proprietors of the lots so vacated may enclose the streets, alleys, and public grounds adjoining said lots, or making such other disposition of the same as may be provided in the instrument vacating the same, and the title to the same shall be transferred or vest accordingly. 8. The clerk of the county or corporation in whose office the plats aforesaid are recorded shall write in plain legible letters across that part of said plat so vacated the word "vacated," and also make a reference on the same to the volume and page in which the said instrument of vacation is recorded. CHAPTER CXII. OF WILLS. Sec. 2513. [83 Va. 392; 84 Va. 424; 90 Va. 849; 93 Va. 591; 2 Va. L. R. 530. ] Sec. 2514. [84 Va. 358; 86 Va. 596.] Sec. 2517. [90 Va. 728.] Sec. 2518. [84 Va. 358; 89 Va. 258.] Sec. 2521. [3 Va. L. R. 302 ] Sec. 2522. [82 Va. 859.] Sec. 2523. [3 Va L. R. 302 ] Sec. 2524. [86 Va 823.] Previous Amendment 1887-8, p. 16. Sec. 2533. Jurisdiction of probate of wills.-The circuit, county and As Amended corporation courts shall have jurisdietion as to probate of wills according to 1893-4, p. 898. the following rules, that is to say: In the county or corporation wherein the decedent has a mansion-house or known place of residence; if he has no such house or place of residence, then in a county or corporation wherein any real estate lies that is devised or owned by the decedent; and if there be no such real estate, then in the county or corporation wherein he dies or a county or corporation wherein he has estate. Sec. 2542. [82 Va. 533; 85 Va. 546.] Sec. 2544. [82 Va. 225; 84 Va. 627; 85 Va. 146.] Sec. 2547. Wills to be recorded, &c.; provision for recording copies. As Amended Every will or authenticated copy so admitted to record by any court shall 1897-8, p. 492. be recorded by the clerk thereof and remain in the clerk's office except during such time as the same may be carried to another court under a subpoena duces tecum. A duly certified copy of any will or of any authenticated copy so admitted to record may be recorded in the clerk's office of the county or corporation court of the county or corporation wherein there is any personal estate bequeathed by such will. It shall be the duty of the personal representative of the testator to cause a duly certified copy of any will or of any authenticated copy so admitted to record to be recorded in the clerk's office of the county or corporation court of each county or corporation wherein there is any real estate whereof the testator died seized and possessed. Sec. 2547 a. To protect the title of a bona fide purchaser of real 1891-2, p. 239. estate for value from the heir at law of a decedent against a devise of the said real estate without notice to such purchaser.-The title of a bona fide purchaser without notice and for valuable consideration from the heir at law of a person who died having title to any real estate of inheritance in this commonwealth shall not be affected by a devise of such real estate made by the decedent unless within seven years after the testator's death the will devising the same, or if such will has been proved without this state an authenticated copy thereof, and the certificate of probate shall be offered for probate before the court having jurisdiction for that purpose, and shall afterwards be admitted to probate and record in the proper court as a will of real estate provided, that if any devisee under such will is at the time of the testator's death an infant or insane the limitation created by this act shall not affect such infant or insane person until after the expiration of two years from the removal of his or her disability. |