Duties of Transfer of vessels. 1172. The duties of County Recorders, in respect to recording instruments, are prescribed by the Political Code. 1173. The mode of recording transfers of ships registered under the laws of the United States is regulated by Acts of Congress. ARTICLE III. PROOF AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INSTRUMENTS. SECTION 1180. By whom acknowledgments may be taken in this 1181. Same. 1182. By whom taken without the State. 1183. By whom taken without the United States. 1184. Deputy can take acknowledgment. 1185. Requisites for acknowledgments. 1186. Acknowledgment by married women. 1187. Same. 1188. Officer must indorse certificate. 1189. General form of certificate. 1190. Form of acknowledgment by corporation. 1191. Form of certificate of acknowledgment by married women. 1192. Form of certificate of acknowledgment by attorney in fact. 1193. Officers must affix their signatures. 1194. Certificate of authority of Justices in certain cases. 1195. Proof of execution, how made. 1196. Witness must be personally known to officer. 1197. Witness must prove, what. 1198. Handwriting may be proved, when. 1199. Evidence must prove, what. 1200. Certificate of proof. 1201. Officers authorized to do certain things. 1202. When instrument is improperly certified, party may have action to correct error. 1203. In certain cases, parties interested may obtain judg ment of proof of an instrument. 1204. Effect of judgment in such action. 1205. Conveyances heretofore made to be governed by then existing laws. 1206. Recording, and as evidence, to be governed by then existing laws. acknowl 1180. The proof or acknowledgment of an instru- By whom ment may be made at any place within this State edgments before a Justice or Clerk of the Supreme Court. may be taken in this State. 1181. The proof or acknowledgment of an instru- Same. ment may be made in this State within the city, county, or district for which the officer was elected or appointed, before either: 1. A Judge or Clerk of a Court of record; or, 2. A Mayor or Recorder of a city; or, 3. A Court Commissioner; or, 4. A County Recorder; or, 5. A Notary Public; or, 6. A Justice of the Peace. NOTE.-Hopkins vs. Delany, Cal., p. 85. A Deputy County Recorder may take and certify acknowledgments.-Muller vs. Boggs, 25 Cal., p. 175. And the reasoning of the case cited is equally applicable to Deputy Clerks. (See Sec. 1184, where the power is expressly conferred upon deputies.) A Justice of the Peace may take and certify an acknowledgment within his county without regard to the locality of the land conveyed, and though it is situated in another county.Colton vs. Seavey, 22 Cal., p. 496. 1182. The proof or acknowledgment of an instrument may be made without this State, but within the United States, and within the jurisdiction of the officer, before either: 1. A Justice, Judge, or Clerk of any Court of record of the United States; or, 2. A Justice, Judge, or Clerk of any Court of record of any State; or, 3. A Commissioner appointed by the Governor of this State for that purpose; or, 4. A Notary Public; or, 5. Any other officer of the State where the acknowledgment is made authorized by its laws to take such proof or acknowledgment. NOTE. The word "State," by the provisions of By whom without taken the State. By whom taken am ritory." See Lord vs. Sherman, 2 Cal., p. 498, for a construction of the Act of April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty. A Master in Chancery is not authorized to take the acknowledgment.-Kimball vs. Semple, 25 Cal., p. 440. 1183. The proof or acknowledgment of an instruwithout the ment may be made without the United States before United States. Deputy can take acknowledgment. Requisites for acknowledgments. either: 1. A Minister, Commissioner, or Charge d'Affaires of the United States resident and accredited in the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made; or, 2. A Consul or Vice Consul of the United States resident in the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made; or, 3. A Judge of a Court of record of the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made; or, 4. Commissioners appointed for such purposes by the Governor of the State, pursuant to special statutes; or, 5. A Notary Public. NOTE.-In Mott vs. Smith, 16 Cal., p. 533, it was held that the general designation in the fourth section of the Act of April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty, as to conveyances, of any Notary Public or any Consul of the United States, embraced Consuls and Notaries of every grade, whether Consul General or Vice Consul, or whether principal or inferior Notary. 1184. When any of the officers mentioned in the four preceding sections are authorized by law to appoint a deputy, the acknowledgment or proof may be taken by such deputy, in the name of his principal. NOTE.-Muller vs. Boggs, 25 Cal., p. 175, and note to Sec. 1181. 1185. The acknowledgment of an instrument must not be taken, unless the officer taking it knows, or has satisfactory evidence, on the oath or affirmation of a credible witness, that the person making such acknowledgment is the individual who is described in and who executed the instrument; or, if executed by a corporation, that the person making such acknowledgment is the President or Secretary of such corporation. NOTE.-See note to Sec. 1191. edgment women. 1186. The acknowledgment of a married woman Acknowlto an instrument purporting to be executed by her, by married must not be taken, unless she is made acquainted by the officer with the contents of the instrument on an examination without the hearing of her husband; nor certified, unless she thereupon acknowledges to the officer that she executed the instrument, and that she does not wish to retract such execution. NOTE.-Kendall vs. Miller, 9 Cal., p. 591. 1187. A conveyance by a married woman has the Samo, same effect as if she were unmarried, and may be acknowledged in the same manner, except as mentioned in the last section; but such conveyance has no validity until so acknowledged. аш NOTE.-A deed by a married woman, not acknowledged, is void.-Ewald vs. Corbett, 32 Cal., p. 493. must 1188. An officer taking the acknowledgment of an Officer instrument must indorse thereon a certificate substan- indorse tially in the forms hereinafter prescribed. NOTE. The certificate is primary evidence of the official character of the person by whom it is given.Mott vs. Smith, 16 Cal., p. 533; see Code of Civil Procedure, Sec. 1963. The purpose of this certificate is to entitle the deed to be recorded, and to be read in evidence, without further proof.-Fogarty vs. Finley, 10 Cal., p. 239. 1189. The certificate of acknowledgment, unless it is otherwise in this Article provided, must be substantially in the following form: 41 certificate. in the year before me [here insert the name and quality of the officer], personally appeared, known to me [or proved to me on the oath of -] to be the person whose name is subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged to me that he [or they] executed the same. 66 66 NOTE.-The acknowledgment should show that the officer knew the person either of his own knowledge, or from proof of his identity, and that such person acknowledged to him that he executed the deed.-Henderson vs. Grewell, 8 Cal., p. 581. The omission alone of the word "personally" was held not to invalidate the acknowledgment.-Hopkins vs. Delany, 8 Cal., p. 85. If the certificate state that the person making the acknowledgment was proved to be the person" who executed the instrument, it must also state that the proof was on the oath of" a witness, giving his name. Kimball vs. Semple, 25 Cal., p. 440; McMinn vs. O'Connor, 27 Cal., p. 238; Fogarty vs. Finley, 10 Cal., p. 239. A certificate in form substantially as follows: "Personally appeared, etc., A. B., known to me to be the person described in, and who executed the same freely and voluntarily, and for the uses and purposes therein mentioned," is insufficient. It does not state the fact of acknowledgment.-Bryan vs. Ramirez, 8 Cal., p. 461; Henderson vs. Grewell, 8 Cal., p. 584; Stanton vs. Button, 2 Conn., p. 527; Pendleton vs. Button, 3 Conn., p. 406. A certificate as follows: "Before me, etc., personally appeared A. B. C., to be the individual described in and who executed it, etc.," is bad, there being no statement upon the personal knowledge of the officer that the party making the acknowledgment is the person who executed it.-Wolf vs. Fogarty, 6 Cal., p. 224; Kelsey vs. Dunlap, 7 Cal., p. 160; Fogarty vs. Finley, 10 Cal., p. 239. 1190. The certificate of acknowledgment of an instrument executed by a corporation must be substantially in the following form: tion. in the year, before me [here insert the name and quality of the officer], personally appeared known to me [or proved to |