{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-json\/55.1-638.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-text\/55.1-638.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-xml\/55.1-638.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-html\/55.1-638.html"}],"law_id":369983,"edition_id":2,"section_id":369983,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-638","catch_line":"Acknowledgment when notary certifies erroneously as to expiration of commission","history":"1928, p. 996; Michie Code 1942, \u00a7 5209h; Code 1950, \u00a7 55-132; 1976, c. 685; 1984, c. 35; 1989, c. 602; 1995, c. 48; 2019, c. 712.","full_text":"All certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and certified prior to July 1, 1995, by a notary public appointed or commissioned by the Governor, or appointed or commissioned under the laws of any state other than the Commonwealth, who mistakenly or by error certified that his commission had expired at the time he made such certificate, when in fact his commission had not at that time expired, shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid according to the law of the Commonwealth then in force, and the date and life of the notary’s commission may be proved aliunde his certificate in any proceeding in which the capacity or authority of such notary is or shall be questioned, and all such deeds and other writings that have been recorded in any clerk’s office in the Commonwealth upon such certificates shall be held to be duly and regularly recorded if such recordation is otherwise valid according to the law then in force.\n\n","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":1380326,"text":"All certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and certified prior to July 1, 1995, by a notary public appointed or commissioned by the Governor, or appointed or commissioned under the laws of any state other than the Commonwealth, who mistakenly or by error certified that his commission had expired at the time he made such certificate, when in fact his commission had not at that time expired, shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid according to the law of the Commonwealth then in force, and the date and life of the notary’s commission may be proved aliunde his certificate in any proceeding in which the capacity or authority of such notary is or shall be questioned, and all such deeds and other writings that have been recorded in any clerk’s office in the Commonwealth upon such certificates shall be held to be duly and regularly recorded if such recordation is otherwise valid according to the law then in force.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":52695,"edition_id":2,"name":"Validating Certain Acts, Deeds, and Acknowledgments","identifier":"5","label":"article","depth":4,"order_by":5,"parent_id":52690,"metadata":{"child_laws":22,"child_structures":0},"date_created":"2026-08-02 03:03:17","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:23","permalink":{"id":1472579,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52695,"identifier":"5","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5","url":"\/55.1\/II\/6\/5\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52690,"edition_id":2,"name":"Recordation of Documents","identifier":"6","label":"chapter","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":52604,"metadata":{"child_laws":67,"child_structures":8},"date_created":"2026-08-02 03:03:14","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:23","permalink":{"id":1472461,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52690,"identifier":"6","token":"55.1\/II\/6","url":"\/55.1\/II\/6\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52604,"edition_id":2,"name":"Real Estate Settlements and Recordation","identifier":"II","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":2,"parent_id":52600,"metadata":{"child_laws":121,"child_structures":14},"date_created":"2026-08-02 03:01:36","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:22","permalink":{"id":1472371,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52604,"identifier":"II","token":"55.1\/II","url":"\/55.1\/II\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52600,"edition_id":2,"name":"Property and Conveyances","identifier":"55.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":120,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{"child_laws":875,"child_structures":101},"date_created":"2026-08-02 03:01:36","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:20","permalink":{"id":1471771,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52600,"identifier":"55.1","token":"55.1","url":"\/55.1\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":369972,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-627","catch_line":"Acts of notaries public, etc., who have held certain other offices","url":"\/55.1-627\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-627","metadata":false},{"id":369973,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-628","catch_line":"Validation of acknowledgments when seal not affixed","url":"\/55.1-628\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-628","metadata":false},{"id":369974,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-629","catch_line":"Acknowledgment taken by trustee in deed of trust","url":"\/55.1-629\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-629","metadata":false},{"id":369975,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-630","catch_line":"Acknowledgment taken by trustee in deed of trust; later date","url":"\/55.1-630\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-630","metadata":false},{"id":369976,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-631","catch_line":"Certain acknowledgments taken and certified before July 1, 1995","url":"\/55.1-631\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-631","metadata":false},{"id":369977,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-632","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by certain justices of the peace, mayors, etc","url":"\/55.1-632\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-632","metadata":false},{"id":369978,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-633","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by officers after expiration of terms","url":"\/55.1-633\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-633","metadata":false},{"id":369979,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-634","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by notaries in service during World War I","url":"\/55.1-634\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-634","metadata":false},{"id":369980,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-635","catch_line":"Acknowledgments before foreign officials who failed to affix seals","url":"\/55.1-635\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-635","metadata":false},{"id":369981,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-636","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by notaries in foreign countries","url":"\/55.1-636\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-636","metadata":false},{"id":369982,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-637","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by officer who was spouse of grantee","url":"\/55.1-637\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-637","metadata":false},{"id":369983,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-638","catch_line":"Acknowledgment when notary certifies erroneously as to expiration of commission","url":"\/55.1-638\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-638","metadata":false},{"id":369984,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-639","catch_line":"Acknowledgments before officer of city or county consolidating, etc., prior to expiration date of commission","url":"\/55.1-639\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-639","metadata":false},{"id":369985,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-640","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken before notary whose commission has expired","url":"\/55.1-640\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-640","metadata":false},{"id":369986,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-641","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken before notary whose commission has expired; later date; intervening vested rights saved","url":"\/55.1-641\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-641","metadata":false},{"id":369987,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-642","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken before notary who was appointed but failed to qualify; vested rights saved","url":"\/55.1-642\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-642","metadata":false},{"id":369988,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-643","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken before a notary at large who failed to cite the jurisdiction in which the acknowledgment was taken; vested rights saved","url":"\/55.1-643\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-643","metadata":false},{"id":369989,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-644","catch_line":"Deeds defectively executed by corporation","url":"\/55.1-644\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-644","metadata":false},{"id":369990,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-645","catch_line":"Deeds to which corporate seal not affixed or not attested","url":"\/55.1-645\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-645","metadata":false},{"id":369991,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-646","catch_line":"Acknowledgments of corporations taken by officers or stockholders","url":"\/55.1-646\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-646","metadata":false},{"id":369992,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-647","catch_line":"Recordation certificate not signed by clerk","url":"\/55.1-647\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-647","metadata":false},{"id":369993,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-648","catch_line":"Recordation certificate not signed by clerk; when clerk has died","url":"\/55.1-648\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-648","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":369982,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-637","catch_line":"Acknowledgments taken by officer who was spouse of grantee","url":"\/55.1-637\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-637","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":369984,"structure_id":52695,"section_number":"55.1-639","catch_line":"Acknowledgments before officer of city or county consolidating, etc., prior to expiration date of commission","url":"\/55.1-639\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-639","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/55.1-638\/","history_text":"

The record of this law\u2019s original creation isn\u2019t available online. It has been modified 5 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1976, chapter 685; in 1984, chapter 35; in 1989, chapter 602; in 1995, chapter 48<\/a>; in 2019, chapter 712<\/a>.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":1472625,"object_type":"law","relational_id":369983,"identifier":"55.1-638","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-638","url":"\/55.1-638\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/55.1-638\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-638","dublin_core":{"Title":"Acknowledgment when notary certifies erroneously as to expiration of commission","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 55.1-638","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

All certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and certified prior to July 1, 1995, by a notary public appointed or commissioned by the Governor, or appointed or commissioned under the laws<\/span> of any state other than the Commonwealth, who mistakenly or by error certified that his commission had expired at the time he made such certificate, when in fact<\/span> his commission had not at that time expired, shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid according to the law<\/span> of the Commonwealth then in force, and the date and life of the notary’s commission may be proved aliunde his certificate in any proceeding in which the capacity or authority of such notary is or shall be questioned, and all such deeds and other writings that have been recorded in any clerk’s office in the Commonwealth upon such certificates shall be held to be duly and regularly recorded if such recordation is otherwise valid according to the law<\/span> then in force.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nACKNOWLEDGMENT WHEN NOTARY CERTIFIES ERRONEOUSLY AS TO EXPIRATION OF COMMISSION\n(\u00a7 55.1-638)\n\nAll certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and\ncertified prior to July 1, 1995, by a notary public appointed or commissioned by\nthe Governor, or appointed or commissioned under the laws of any state other\nthan the Commonwealth, who mistakenly or by error certified that his commission\nhad expired at the time he made such certificate, when in fact his commission\nhad not at that time expired, shall be held and are hereby declared valid and\neffective in all respects if otherwise valid according to the law of the\nCommonwealth then in force, and the date and life of the notary’s\ncommission may be proved aliunde his certificate in any proceeding in which the\ncapacity or authority of such notary is or shall be questioned, and all such\ndeeds and other writings that have been recorded in any clerk’s office in\nthe Commonwealth upon such certificates shall be held to be duly and regularly\nrecorded if such recordation is otherwise valid according to the law then in\nforce.\n\nHISTORY: 1928, p. 996; Michie Code 1942, \u00a7 5209h; Code 1950, \u00a7 55-132; 1976,\nc. 685; 1984, c. 35; 1989, c. 602; 1995, c. 48; 2019, c. 712.","edition":{"id":2,"name":"2026","slug":"2026","date_created":"2026-07-16 18:40:23","date_modified":"2026-08-02 15:14:36","current":1,"order_by":2,"last_import":"2026-08-02 12:37:30"}}