Executive Order 1239

By virtue of the authority vested in me I hereby establish the following Order for the Canal Zone:

Article 1. Any deed or other instrument in writing relative to or affecting real estate the separate property of a married woman, or any mortgage or other lien on such property, shall be sufficient if the husband of the married woman joins with her in the execution of the instrument and the same is acknowledged by them before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments hereunder, in conformity with the provisions hereof.

Article 2. Any deed or other instrument in writing heretofore executed by a married woman joined by her husband and otherwise in conformity to law, conveying lands or interests therein belonging to her separate estate, or creating a mortgage or other lien thereon, shall be held to be valid and effective to pass such title to or interest in such land, or to create such mortgage or other lien thereon, from the date of the execution of the deed or other instrument, although no order may have been obtained as required by the Civil Code from a court or judge to authorize such conveyance, mortgage or other lien.

Article 3. In order to acknowledge the execution of an instrument in writing under the provisions hereof the parties shall appear in person before the officer authorized to take the same and acknowledge to him that they have executed the same for the purposes and considerations expressed in the instrument. If the parties making the acknowledgment or either of them is not personally known to the officer taking the acknowledgment, their identity must be established on the oath of a credible witness; and, in addition, the married woman making the acknowledgment must be examined privily and apart from her husband by the officer taking her acknowledgment, and the contents of the instrument in writing must be fully explained to her by him, and he shall not accept her acknowledgment unless she declares to him that she has willingly signed the instrument, without fear or compulsion on the part of her husband, and that she does not wish to retract it.

The certificate of acknowledgment of the husband shall be sufficient if it is substantially in the following form:

The .......... Judicial Circuit, Canal Zone.

Before me, .........., in and for .............., in the Canal Zone, on this day personally appeared ............, known to me (or proven to me on the oath of ............., a credible witness) to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same, for the purposes and consideration therein expressed.

Given under my hand and seal of office this ........... day of ........... A. D. .........

............ ............⁠
........... ...........

The certificate of acknowledgment of a married woman shall be sufficient if it is substantially in the following form:

The ........... Judicial Circuit, Canal Zone.

Before me, ............, in and for ............, in the Canal Zone, on this day personally appeared ............, known to me (or proven to me on the oath of ............, a credible witness) to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and the said ..........., being examined by me privily and apart from her husband ............, and having had said instrument fully explained to her by me, acknowledged the same to be her act and deed, and declared that she had willingly signed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed, without fear or compulsion on the part of her husband, the said ........., and that she did not wish to retract it.

Given under my hand and seal of office this ........... day of ........... A. D. .........

............ ............⁠
........... ...........

Article 4. Any instrument in writing required to be acknowledged by the provisions of this Order, or by any other law or order of the Canal Zone, shall be acknowledged before a judge of any court of the Canal Zone, the clerk thereof, or before any notary public of said Canal Zone, and may also be acknowledged before the judge of any court of record or the clerk thereof or before any notary public within any state, territory, district or possession of the United States.

If the instrument is one executed in a foreign country the same may be acknowledged before any diplomatic or consular officer or commercial agent of the United States, accredited to such country.

The officers authorized to take acknowledgments hereunder are also empowered to issue proper certificates of the same.

Article 5. Articles 189 and 1810 of the Civil Code, and all laws, orders, and decrees and parts thereof, in conflict with this Order are hereby repealed; provided, however, that this Order shall not affect any deed or other instrument executed pursuant to the laws in force prior to the date upon which this Order shall take effect.

Wm. H. Taft.

The White House,

August 20, 1910.