{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-json\/55.1-642.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-text\/55.1-642.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-xml\/55.1-642.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-html\/55.1-642.html"}],"law_id":369987,"edition_id":2,"section_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","history":"1956, c. 713, \u00a7 55-134.1; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 92; 1972, c. 631; 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 person who was appointed as a notary public by the Governor but who failed to qualify as provided by law shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid, 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 law; however, nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect any intervening vested rights.\n\n","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":1380330,"text":"All certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and certified prior to July 1, 1995, by a person who was appointed as a notary public by the Governor but who failed to qualify as provided by law shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid, 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 law; however, nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect any intervening vested rights.","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; 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when clerk has died","url":"\/55.1-648\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-648","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"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},"next_section":{"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},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/55.1-642\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1956. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 713 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1956 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 6 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 1972, chapter 631; 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":1472641,"object_type":"law","relational_id":369987,"identifier":"55.1-642","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-642","url":"\/55.1-642\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/55.1-642\/","token":"55.1\/II\/6\/5\/55.1-642","dublin_core":{"Title":"Acknowledgments taken before notary who was appointed but failed to qualify; vested rights saved","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 55.1-642","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 person who was appointed as a notary public by the Governor but who failed to qualify as provided by law<\/span> shall be held and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise valid, 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 law<\/span>; however, nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect any intervening vested rights.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nACKNOWLEDGMENTS TAKEN BEFORE NOTARY WHO WAS APPOINTED BUT FAILED TO QUALIFY;\nVESTED RIGHTS SAVED (\u00a7 55.1-642)\n\nAll certificates of acknowledgment to deeds and other writings taken and\ncertified prior to July 1, 1995, by a person who was appointed as a notary\npublic by the Governor but who failed to qualify as provided by law shall be\nheld and are hereby declared valid and effective in all respects if otherwise\nvalid, and all such deeds and other writings that have been recorded in any\nclerk’s office in the Commonwealth upon such certificates shall be held to\nbe duly and regularly recorded if such recordation is otherwise valid according\nto law; however, nothing in this section shall be so construed as to affect any\nintervening vested rights.\n\nHISTORY: 1956, c. 713, \u00a7 55-134.1; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 92; 1972, c. 631; 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"}}