2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 47 - Land and Land Titles
Chapter 821 - Land Titles
Section 47-5 - Conveyance to be in writing, acknowledged and attested. Conveyance pursuant to power of attorney.
(a) All conveyances of land shall be: (1) In writing; (2) if the grantor is a natural person, subscribed, with or without a seal, by the grantor with his own hand or with his mark with his name annexed to it or by his attorney authorized for that purpose by a power executed, acknowledged and witnessed in the manner provided for conveyances or, if the grantor is a corporation, limited liability company or partnership, subscribed by a duly authorized person; (3) acknowledged by the grantor, his attorney or such duly authorized person (A) to be his free act and deed, or (B) in any manner permitted under chapter 6 or chapter 8; and (4) attested to by two witnesses with their own hands.
(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the execution of a deed or other conveyance of real property pursuant to a power of attorney shall be deemed sufficient if done in substantially the following form:
Name of Owner of Record
By: (Signature of Attorney-in-Fact) L.S.
Name of Signatory
His/Her Attorney-in-Fact
(c) Nothing in subsection (b) of this section precludes the use of any other legal form of execution of deed or other conveyance of real property.
(1949 Rev., S. 7085; P.A. 75-309, S. 3; P.A. 79-602, S. 1; P.A. 87-265; P.A. 96-77, S. 16; P.A. 05-288, S. 160; P.A. 06-196, S. 176; P.A. 11-206, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 75-309 made grantor’s seal optional rather than mandatory, specified that duly authorized person may subscribe to conveyance where grantor is a corporation or partnership and deleted detailed listing of persons before whom acknowledgment may be made; P.A. 79-602 restated provisions and added Subdiv. indicators; P.A. 87-265 added Subsec. (b) re form for execution of deed or other conveyance of real property pursuant to a power of attorney and Subsec. (c) re use of other legal forms of deed execution or property conveyance; P.A. 96-77 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to add “limited liability company”; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 11-206 amended Subsec. (a)(3) to designate existing provisions re free act and deed as Subpara. (A) and add Subpara. (B) to permit acknowledgment in any manner permitted under Ch. 6 or 8.
See chapter 821a re forms of deeds and mortgages.
Cited. 5 CA 435; 31 CA 1. Section does not indicate that a flaw in the instrument or its recordation would make it inadmissible as evidence. 51 CA 733. When read together with Sec. 47-10, indicates that only when a natural person attempts to convey property through a power of attorney must the instrument creating the power be filed with the conveyance, or have been previously filed, to have legal effect. Id. Deed was invalid because it lacked the signature of two witnesses. 87 CA 337.
A restrictive covenant and zoning restrictions are two entirely separate and unrelated limitations on the use of property; where the deeds to all the lots sold under a general development scheme contain the same restrictive covenants, each grantee is entitled to enforce them in the absence of conduct on his part constituting laches, waiver or abandonment. 22 CS 235. Where an owner of land causes a map to be made of it showing separate lots, and parks or other open areas and then sells the lots, referring in his conveyances to the map, the lot owners acquire the right to have the parks thereafter kept open for use in connection with their lands. Id., 499. A purchase of property in the name of a husband by money supplied by his wife raises a rebuttable presumption of a gift. 23 CS 1. Restrictive covenants are to be narrowly construed and are not to be extended by implication. Id., 89. Cited. Id., 298. A reservation or other restriction in a deed is the proper subject of an action for a declaratory judgment. Id., 486. Reservation should be construed so as to confer a practical right and will include by implication that which is necessary to the reasonable enjoyment of the thing reserved, so long as it is not contrary to ascertained intent of parties. Id. Cited. 30 CS 56; 41 CS 225.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 221 C. 77.
Cited. 38 CA 639. Lack of adherence to the formalities in Subsec. rendered the subject deed of conveyance voidable, but not void; in the case of the subject deed, where plaintiff gave permission to or granted authority to his father to sign his name on the deed, plaintiff waived Subsec.’s directive. 67 CA 447. A grantor or a grantee of a deed cannot act as one of the two attesting witnesses required for the conveyance of property because allowing the parties to act as witnesses would negate the purpose of the witness requirement. 134 CA 265.
