Defiance County Quitclaim Deed (Individual Grantor by Attorney-in-Fact under Power of Attorney) Form

An Ohio deed signed under a power of attorney reaches the recorder second. The power of attorney goes on record first, in the same county, and Section 1337.04(C) of the Ohio Revised Code puts that sequence in the statute. This quitclaim deed form is built around it: one record owner stands as Grantor under Section 5302.11, an attorney-in-fact signs in that owner's name, and Section 3 carries the date of the power of attorney, its recording reference, and the authority relied on.

The instrument that goes on record first

Section 1337.04(C) has a power of attorney used to execute a real property instrument recorded where the property sits, ahead of the instrument executed under it. Senate Bill 94 of the 135th General Assembly, effective October 24, 2024, added a repair for a missed sequence: the power of attorney may go on record later, attached to a supporting affidavit by a person with knowledge of the facts, if it was executed and acknowledged no later than the day the deed was signed. Both are recorded separately, apart from this package.

A signature made in another person's name

Section 1337.02 states what the deed must contain and what it does: the name of the grantor, and a conveyance of that grantor's interest as fully as if the grantor had signed in person. Section 1337.03 absorbs the drafting variations Ohio practice produces, so such a deed, acknowledged and recorded, is not defective because the attorney is named as grantor, subscribes the attorney's own name, or acknowledges as the person who executed it as such attorney. Section 11 recites that the signer acts in the Grantor's name solely as attorney-in-fact, not individually.

How far the power of attorney reaches

The deed prints its authority rather than assuming it. Section 1337.45 lists what general authority over real property carries, and a quitclaim sits there beside sell, exchange, and encumber. Section 1337.42(A) marks the acts needing an express grant, gifts among them, so a conveyance for no consideration answers to that grant and to Section 1337.58, and Section 1337.42(B) bars an agent who is no ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal from creating an interest in the agent.

The dower line no agent can sign

Ohio keeps dower, producing a second signature the attorney-in-fact cannot supply. Section 2103.02 gives the spouse of a married owner a life estate in one third of real property the owner was seized of during the marriage. That life estate belongs to the spouse rather than the Grantor, so no power of attorney the Grantor signed reaches it. Section 12 prints the statutory release sentence with a signature block and certificate for the spouse, signing in person; where the Grantor is unmarried, those entries stay blank.

One record owner, one signer who is not that owner

The form tops out at two signers, the agent and a releasing spouse, each with its own certificate, so the two may appear on different days before different officers. Ohio law does not require separate certificates; the per-signer layout is this form's own accommodation. A parcel sold while its owner lives abroad, a sale handled by an agent for an owner who has lost capacity under a durable power of attorney, and a conveyance clearing a fractional interest standing in an absent owner's name present the agency record this deed recites. Two record owners would take two signature blocks, and an entity or a court-appointed fiduciary conveys on authority outside Chapter 1337. Searches for a quit claim deed, the hyphenated quit-claim spelling, or a power of attorney deed reach this instrument.

What a quit-claim moves out of an absent owner's name

The covenant question is settled by the conveyance statute, not by the agency. Section 5302.11 withholds every covenant on the grantor's part while giving the form fee simple effect, and Section 5302.03 adds that granting words imply none, so a grantee takes the Grantor's position in the record as the record leaves it, mortgage and easement included. The county auditor endorses the transfer under Sections 319.202 and 317.22, reading the Section 319.20 entries, before the recorder sees it. Three files come with the purchase: this Ohio quitclaim deed for an individual grantor signing by attorney-in-fact as a fillable PDF, a completed example built on a Warren County sale closed by an agent, and a plain language guide to the numbered entries, the Chapter 1337 rules, and the county steps. It describes Ohio law and this form generally and is not legal advice.