Vermont Gift Deed (Individual Grantor by Attorney-in-Fact - POA)

On this Vermont gift deed, the owner making the gift never picks up the pen: an attorney-in-fact signs the deed in the owner's place, and a recorded power of attorney supplies the authority behind every word of it. The form prepares a deed of gift for one individual grantor conveying Vermont real estate to a named grantee, configured throughout for signature by an agent rather than by the owner personally.

A deed signed by an agent, not the owner

Vermont law has always contemplated this arrangement. Under 27 V.S.A. § 301, lands are conveyed by a deed executed by a person having authority to convey or by that person's attorney, acknowledged and recorded as chapter 5 of Title 27 provides. The state adds one requirement specific to agency deeds: under 27 V.S.A. § 305, the power of attorney itself is signed, acknowledged, and recorded in the same office where the deed is recorded. Vermont keeps land records town by town, with no county recording system, so the deed and the power of attorney both land with the clerk of the town or city where the property lies. The deed's power of attorney section collects the date and the book and page reference that documents this, and it recites that the instrument is of record or is presented for recording with the deed.

Express gift authority under the Vermont Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Since July 1, 2023, Vermont powers of attorney are governed by the Vermont Uniform Power of Attorney Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 127. Under 14 V.S.A. § 4031(a)(2), an agent may make a gift of the principal's property only if the power of attorney expressly grants that authority; general authority alone does not reach gifting. An agent who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal faces a further limit on creating any interest in the principal's property in the agent personally, and by default a grant of gift authority is subject to the dollar limits and best interest factors of 14 V.S.A. § 4047. A gift of real estate commonly exceeds those default amounts, so the gift language of the particular power of attorney defines what the agent may convey. The deed recites the express grant of gift authority on its face, and the guide walks through where each supporting fact comes from in the recorded power of attorney.

What the form recites

The form carries eleven numbered sections: the grantor, the attorney-in-fact, the power of attorney and its recording reference, the grantee with an optional relationship line, the legal description, address, source of title, survey reference, encumbrances, the operative gift conveyance, and the signatures. The conveyance gives, grants, conveys, and confirms the property to the grantee as a gift, in consideration of love and affection, without monetary consideration and without covenant or warranty of title. The attorney-in-fact signs in a representative capacity, and the acknowledgment names the signer as attorney-in-fact for the grantor. A labeled joining spouse block with its own notary certificate serves the homestead joinder rule of 27 V.S.A. §§ 141 and 349 where the property includes homestead property of a married grantor; where the grantor is unmarried, that block remains blank. A parent's agent completing a planned transfer of the family home to a child after the parent's health declines, and a deed of gift signed while the owner is away or unable to travel, present the pattern this deed recites. The form recites exactly one individual grantor acting through an agent; co-owner grantors, trustee grantors, and owners signing personally follow different execution patterns.

Recording with the town clerk, even for a gift

The deed records with the municipal clerk at fifteen dollars per page under 32 V.S.A. § 1671(a). A Vermont Property Transfer Tax Return, Form PTT-172, accompanies the deed even where no money changes hands: under 32 V.S.A. § 9608 the clerk cannot record without a complete return and the required certificate. Exemptions in 32 V.S.A. § 9603 reach certain transfers made without consideration between family members, which is why the form carries its optional relationship line, and the guide describes the return, the clean water surcharge, and the current rate structure in detail.

The package contains the gift deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing the deed filled in for a realistic Windsor County fact pattern, and a plain language guide covering every section, the power of attorney requirements, and the recording process. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.