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

A deed the owner never signs still has to prove itself on the record. On this Virginia quitclaim deed the grantor is the individual holding record title, while the signature belongs to an attorney-in-fact acting under a power of attorney, so Section 4 carries that document's date, its recording reference, and the authority relied on.

The word quitclaim, written into the statute that grants the authority

Code of Virginia Section 64.2-1625(A)(2) is the provision this instrument rests on. Unless the power of attorney provides otherwise, language granting general authority over real property authorizes the agent to sell; exchange; convey with or without covenants, representations, or warranties; quitclaim; release; encumber; partition; or otherwise dispose of an interest in real property. A quitclaim release sits in that list by name. Section 64.2-1622(C) supplies the same authority where the document lets the agent do all acts the principal could do, and Section 64.2-1622(G) binds the principal and the principal's successors in interest as though the principal had acted.

One owner, one agent, one certificate

The grantor side is fixed at one individual record owner whose interest a single attorney-in-fact releases: a grantor line above the signature rule carrying the owner's name, one signature and printed-name line for the agent, and one certificate whose venue reads city or county under Section 47.1-16(A). An owner who has moved to another state and left a durable power of attorney behind, an owner in long-term care whose agent acts under general real property authority, and an owner deployed overseas during a sale all present the single-agent release these recitals carry. No second grantor block prints, so two owners, two agents signing together, or spouses severing an entireties estate under Section 55.1-136(B) run on other recitals, and no trustee, personal representative, or entity capacity appears.

The certificate Virginia wrote for this signature

Section 55.1-621 supplies Virginia's statutory short forms of acknowledgment, and its fourth form is written for an individual acting as principal by an attorney-in-fact: the instrument was acknowledged on the stated date by the named attorney-in-fact as attorney-in-fact on behalf of the named principal. Two names in one certificate show that the person before the notary was not the owner.

Where the power of attorney itself is filed

Virginia keeps the agent's authority in the same books as the deed. Section 17.1-227 lists what belongs in the deed books and names powers of attorney to convey real estate among them, and Section 55.1-605 lets one be recorded in any county or city. Section 64.2-1603 makes it recordable when it satisfies Section 55.1-600. That instrument is recorded separately and is not part of this package; the deed carries its date and recording reference so the two read together.

Limits the deed cannot enlarge

The Uniform Power of Attorney Act draws lines no deed can move. Section 64.2-1622(A) reserves certain acts to an express grant, gifts among them, so a release passing no money turns on the wording of the power of attorney as much as on the deed. Under Section 64.2-1622(B), unless that document 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 64.2-1608 ends the authority at the principal's death.

Warranty withheld, and the entries that price the filing

Virginia gives legal effect to covenant words rather than to a heading, and the phrases at Sections 55.1-354 through 55.1-362 are missing by design: the capitalized paragraph in Section 8 makes no covenant or warranty of title, names seisin, quiet possession, and further assurances among the covenants withheld, and has the attorney-in-fact undertake nothing individually. Section 1 gathers the parcel number under Section 17.1-252, the underwriter and preparer statements Section 17.1-223(B) puts on a residential deed of four dwelling units or fewer, and the return address, while Section 2 takes the consideration with the actual value Section 58.1-801 measures by the most recent assessment.

Searchers reach this instrument as a power of attorney deed, a quit claim deed signed by an agent, or an attorney-in-fact quitclaim deed; this package prepares the Virginia version for one individual grantor whose attorney-in-fact signs. It holds three items: the fillable blank deed, a completed example worked through a priced Spotsylvania County transfer, and a plain-language guide covering the sections one at a time, the forms in which a Virginia grantee may hold title, notarization, and the charges the clerk collects. The materials describe Virginia law generally and are not legal advice.