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

The name on the grantor line of this South Dakota quitclaim deed belongs to someone who never touches the pen. The record owner is the Grantor; an attorney in fact signs for that owner under a power of attorney, in a capacity the conveyancing sentence states. The fillable form prepares that agent-signed conveyance on the SDCL 43-25-7 standard quitclaim form.

The clause that lets an agent sign a deed

South Dakota's writing requirement carries its own authorization. Under SDCL 43-25-1, an estate in real property passes by an instrument in writing subscribed by the party disposing of the estate or by that party's agent thereunto authorized in writing. The writing that clause points to is a power of attorney under SDCL chapter 59-12, adopted in 2020, which Section 3 identifies by date and recording reference. Everything the signature accomplishes comes from that instrument: SDCL 59-12-4 has the principal sign it with the signature acknowledged, SDCL 59-12-3 supplies the durability language South Dakota does not presume, and SDCL 59-12-24 carries the general real property authority of SDCL 59-12-26 into the document by reference.

A certificate written for this exact signature

South Dakota wrote a certificate for this signature rather than a general representative-capacity form. In the SDCL 18-5-10 certificate of acknowledgment by an attorney in fact, the officer certifies that the appearing person acknowledged subscribing the principal's name as principal and the person's own name as attorney in fact. That doubles as a description of the signing convention itself, which the certificate on this deed follows.

Authority a title examiner can see

This deed answers to a standard no other quitclaim configuration meets. Standard 5-21 of the State Bar of South Dakota 2002 Title Standards, carried in SDCL chapter 43-30S, states that for any deed signed under a power of attorney, evidence must be shown of record to be in effect on the date of the instrument. No SDCL section was located making recordation of the power of attorney a condition of recording the deed, so it bites at title examination, which is why the authority sits on the deed's face. The power of attorney is recorded separately and is not part of this package.

The covenants this deed turns off

Under SDCL 43-25-11, quitclaim words imply two covenants unless the conveyance restricts them by express terms, one against an earlier conveyance of the same estate, one against encumbrances traceable to the grantor. Section 12 takes the express-terms route in capital letters and adds the line an agent-signed deed needs: the attorney in fact makes no personal covenant and conveys no interest of that person's own. SDCL 43-25-8 holds the reach to the interest owned on the date of the conveyance.

One agent, one signature block, one certificate

The form recites one record owner with name, marital status, and address, one attorney in fact, and one signature block whose role line reads GRANTOR, BY ATTORNEY IN FACT, followed by a single acknowledgment certificate. Patterns appearing in the South Dakota record include an owner in long-term care whose adult child closes the sale of the home place under a durable power of attorney, and an owner living abroad whose agent signs at a local closing. An owner signing in person, two record owners, spouses concurring in a homestead conveyance under SDCL 43-31-17, a trustee, and entity grantors each print a different arrangement of signatures. Grantees may be one or several, Section 5 taking a co-ownership designation measured against the interest-in-common default of SDCL 43-2-12. One limit sits outside the paper: SDCL 59-12-23 governs acts calling for an express specific grant, a transfer creating an interest in the agent among them.

Fees, the value certificate, and one narrow blank

SDCL 7-9-15 sets the register of deeds charge at thirty dollars for a deed of fifty pages or fewer. Value drives the second charge: the SDCL 43-4-21 realty transfer fee is half a dollar for each five hundred dollars, so the example's $168,000.00 consideration produces $168.00, payable before the instrument goes on record. Section 10 states an SDCL 43-4-22 exemption instead, and the SDCL 7-9-7 certificate of real estate value travels to the same counter as its own document.

Three files come with the purchase: this power of attorney quit claim deed as a blank fillable PDF, a completed example worked through on a Beadle County sale signed by an agent, and a plain-language guide to the thirteen sections and the recording package. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.