Land Title Practice Manual

45 Witnessing—individual Power Of Attorney

In This Volume

  • 45 (1) In the case of an instrument that is executed by an individual who is acting under a subsisting power of attorney, the signature of the officer witnessing the execution is a certification by the officer that
  • (a) the individual appeared before and acknowledged to the officer that
    • (i) the individual is the person named as the attorney of the transferor in a subsisting power of attorney,
    • (ii) if the transferor is an individual, the individual acting under the power of attorney had, at the time the instrument was executed, no knowledge of the death or bankruptcy of the transferor, or of the revocation of the power by the transferor, and
      • (A) if the power of attorney is not an enduring power of attorney, the individual had, at that time, no knowledge of the mental infirmity of the transferor, or
      • (B) in the case of an enduring power of attorney, the individual had, at that time, no knowledge of the suspension or termination of the individual’s authority under any enactment,
    • (ii.1) each change to the authority of an attorney under an enduring power of attorney has been filed with the registrar under this Act or a copy, certified under section 51(4) as a true copy of those changes, has been filed, and
    • (iii) if the transferor is a corporation, it is legally entitled to hold and dispose of land in British Columbia and, at the time the instrument was executed, the corporation existed and the individual had no knowledge of the bankruptcy of the transferor or of a revocation of the power by the transferor, and
  • (b) the signature witnessed by the officer is the signature of the individual who made the acknowledgement.
  • (2) An attorney who is an individual must execute the instrument by signing the attorney’s name and must indicate on the instrument that the attorney is the attorney of the transferor.

1979-219-45; 1989-69-4, effective April 1, 1990 (B.C. Reg. 53/90); 2007-34-86, effective September 1, 2011 (B.C. Reg. 14/2011); 2016-05-39, Sch. 1; 2023-10-447.

FORMS

Execution Item

See the requirements for the execution item under the “Forms” heading for s. 43 of the Act.

Forms of Officer Certification for Individual Power of Attorney

EXAMPLE: Execution by Individual Attorney

PRACTICE

Scheme of Officer Certification

The same scheme as described for s. 43 applies to officer certification of execution by an individual who is acting under a subsisting power of attorney, with the appropriate acknowledgments pertaining to the validity of the power of attorney.

Acknowledgments Regarding Bankruptcy and Entitlement to Hold and Dispose of Land

The officer certifying a document does not have to inquire personally into the facts described in s. 45(1)(a)(iii) of the Act. Rather, the individual who executes the document in the presence of the officer must acknowledge to the officer certifying execution the individual’s knowledge of these facts.

Individual Attorney Signs Own Name

Under s. 45(2), an individual who is an attorney executes a document by signing only the attorney’s name, and is not required to sign the name of the donor. However, the name of the donor must appear in the execution block, as shown in the preceding example.

Reference to Power of Attorney Registration Number

The signature of the attorney must be followed by a reference to the land title registration number of the power of attorney appointing the signatory as attorney.

Where the power of attorney is submitted in the same package as the instrument, the reference to the registration number must be by description rather than by reference to the land title registration number.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Deposit of Power of Attorney

See s. 51 of the Act regarding the requirement that a power of attorney be filed with the registrar before an instrument executed by the attorney appointed under it may be registered.

Revocation of Power of Attorney

See s. 57 of the Act.