Steuben County Quitclaim Deed (Individual Grantor by Attorney in Fact) Form

The owner named as Grantor on this Indiana quitclaim deed never picks up a pen. An attorney in fact signs the single signature line under a written power of attorney, and the grantee takes the owner's interest as the record leaves it, without warranty. Indiana adds a condition no other configuration carries: the power of attorney belongs on the county record before the recorder takes the deed.

Two Recordings, and the Order Matters

IC 30-5-3-3 sets the order. An attorney in fact may generally act without recording the power of attorney, but subsection (b) reverses that for a document which itself must be recorded. Subsection (c) directs that a recorder may not accept a document executed and presented by an attorney in fact whose power of attorney is unrecorded, and subsection (f) requires a reference to the book and page or instrument number where the power is recorded. Section 3 holds that reference, and St. Joseph County lists a missing power of attorney recording number among its common rejections.

A Signature Format Indiana Wrote Into the Code

IC 30-5-8-8, effective July 1, 2024, speaks to an instrument an attorney in fact executes for a principal. A statement appears above, beside, or below the agent's signature, identifying the principal and indicating that the agent acts as the principal's agent under the power of attorney. Subsection (e) lists seven complying formats, not as an exhaustive list, among them the principal's printed name over the agent's signature over a line reading By: name, as attorney in fact. Subsection (f) lets a recorded deed incorporate by reference a power of attorney recorded under IC 30-5-3-3.

Where the Agent's Authority Comes From

No deed supplies the authority behind it. IC 30-5-4-1 gives four conditions for a valid Indiana power of attorney: a writing, a named attorney in fact, a grant of power to act for the principal, and the principal's signature before a notary public or before witnesses. IC 30-5-5-2(a)(2) makes authority over land a listed power, in verbs that include quitclaim. Two boundaries travel with it: IC 30-5-6-3 has an attorney in fact exercise every power in a fiduciary capacity, and IC 30-5-10-4(a) ends the power at the principal's death.

What the Quitclaim Passes Through an Agent

The conveying words are Indiana's own. IC 32-21-1-15 builds the statutory form on quitclaims, and IC 32-17-2-2 measures a release at all the estate the grantor could pass by a deed of bargain and sale. Signing through an agent changes none of that arithmetic: a mortgage the owner gave, a judgment lien against the owner, and a recorded easement all ride through, and the agent's signature adds no covenant of title. A search for a quit claim deed signed under a POA lands here.

One Principal, One Agent, One Certificate

The form names exactly one Grantor, an individual holding record title as principal, and one attorney in fact signing for that Grantor. The signature area carries the printed name line of IC 36-2-11-16(c) for the signer's name and capacity, and one acknowledgment certificate follows, taken in a representative capacity. IC 33-42-0.5-2 makes that acknowledgment a declaration, before the notarial officer, of proper authority and of signing as the act of the person identified in the record, and IC 33-42-0.5-17 counts acting as an attorney in fact among those capacities, so the individual who appears is the agent. Ownership patterns presenting this configuration include an owner overseas when a closing date arrives, an owner in residential care under a durable power of attorney signed years earlier, and an owner whose recorded power reaches one described parcel. The form is not set up for record title in two names, for an owner signing personally, for an entity or trustee grantor, or for a guardian or personal representative, whose authority is court appointed.

Assessor, Auditor, Recorder

Consideration decides the first stop, since IC 6-1.1-5.5 routes a transfer for value through the county assessor on a sales disclosure form. The auditor's taxation endorsement under IC 36-2-11-14 follows, and the recorder's charge is the flat statewide amount of IC 36-2-7-10.

Three files come with the purchase: the fillable Indiana quitclaim deed built to the state's recording format, a completed example in which an attorney in fact conveys a Greenwood parcel recorded in Johnson County, and a guide covering each entry, the certificate, and filing. The power of attorney is a separate instrument, prepared and recorded separately, with its own recording fee. These pages describe Indiana law generally and are not legal advice.