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

Two people stand on the grantor side of this Pennsylvania quitclaim deed, and only one of them signs it. The grantor named in Section 1 is the record owner, the party whose interest actually moves. The attorney-in-fact named in Section 2 holds the pen, in a representative capacity, under a power of attorney that Section 3 pins down by date, by recording county, and by instrument number or book and page. The release itself is an ordinary quitclaim: whatever right, title, and interest the owner holds passes to the grantee, with no warranty of title.

The authority the deed names

An agent's power over Pennsylvania land is a creature of the document that granted it. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 5602(a)(10), a principal empowers an agent through the words to engage in real property transactions, or language showing a similar intent, and 20 Pa.C.S. Section 5603(i) reads that power to let the agent acquire or dispose of real property, the principal's residence included, and in general exercise every power over real property the principal could exercise if present. Section 3 asks for the grant by paragraph, so the recorded instrument shows the authority the signer acted under.

Two limits that live outside the deed

Pennsylvania fences off part of an agent's reach, and no deed language reopens it. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 5601.4(a)(2), making a gift takes an express grant of gift authority, which reaches a conveyance for no or nominal consideration. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 5601.4(b), unless the instrument provides otherwise, an agent who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal may not create an interest in the principal's property in the agent. Section 5 records the consideration and Section 4 records who takes the interest, the entries those provisions read.

One owner, one signing agent, one representative certificate

The architecture is narrow. A single grantor block names the record owner, a second block names the agent, one signature line is captioned for the grantor signing by that agent, and a single acknowledgment certificate follows the representative capacity substance of 57 Pa.C.S. Section 316(2), its blank taking the signer's name with the capacity. Situations that present this configuration recur in Pennsylvania record rooms: an owner living out of state whose agent completes a family transfer at the county counter, an owner whose capacity has declined and whose agent releases a fractional interest to the co-owner buying it out. The form recites one record owner acting through one agent; a deed the owner signs personally follows a grantor arrangement this quit claim deed does not print.

What a recording desk asks for when an agent signs

The power of attorney is the document the counter examines, and it records separately. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 5602(c) an acknowledged power of attorney may be recorded with the recorder of deeds where the principal resides and where the affected real property lies, while Section 5602(d) gives a photocopy the effect of the original for every purpose except that filing. Montgomery County publishes the mechanics for a document signed under a power of attorney: the original recorded at the same time, a book and page carried on the document, or a copy recorded as an attachment. Section 3 collects that reference, the deed closes with the grantee residence certificate that 16 P.S. Section 9781 conditions recording on, and a parcel identifier entry serves the identifier ordinance counties.

Release words the statute defines, and a tax that ignores the label

Under 21 P.S. Section 6 the words release and quit claim pass the grantor's whole right, title, interest, claim, and demand and bar later claims by the grantor and the grantor's heirs. The form states that it uses no grant and convey language, so the covenants of 21 P.S. Section 3 are absent, along with the Section 4 general warranty and the Section 5 special warranty. Tax follows the conveyance instead of the caption: 61 Pa. Code Section 91.164 taxes a quitclaim deed like any other deed where real estate actually changes hands, at the 1 percent state rate plus the local rate, with a REV-183 Statement of Value documenting a gift, a nominal sum, or a claimed exclusion.

The download holds the blank deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example following a Westmoreland County release signed by an agent, and a guide to the twelve sections, the power of attorney rules, notarization, transfer tax, and county recording. These materials describe Pennsylvania law in general terms and are not legal advice.