Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 47 — LAND AND LAND TITLES · Chapter 821 — Land Titles
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5 (2026)

Requirements re conveyances of land. Conveyance pursuant to power of attorney

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CT-CGAcga.ct.gov (official) JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) All conveyances of land shall be: (1) In writing; (2) if the grantor is (A) 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 agent authorized for that purpose by a power (i) executed, acknowledged and witnessed in the manner provided for conveyances, or (ii) executed, acknowledged and witnessed in the same manner provided for in section 1-350d, and subsection (a) of section 1-350r; or (B) a corporation, limited liability company or partnership, subscribed by a duly authorized person; (3) acknowledged by the grantor, his agent 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) A document conveying land shall also include the current mailing address of the grantee.

(c) 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 Agent) L.S.

Name of Signatory

His/Her Agent

(d) Nothing in subsection (c) 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; P.A. 13-87, S. 1; P.A. 15-240, S. 50; P.A. 16-40, S. 9; P.A. 21-39, S. 9.)

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; P.A. 13-87 added new Subsec. (b) re conveyance of land to include current mailing address of the grantee, redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (c) and (d) and made a technical change in redesignated Subsec. (d); P.A. 15-240 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “agent” for “attorney” and amended Subsec. (c) by substituting “Agent” for “Attorney-in-Fact”, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 16-40 changed effective date of P.A. 15-240, S. 50, from July 1, 2016, to October 1, 2016, effective May 27, 2016; P.A. 21-39 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by designating existing provision re natural person as Subpara. (A) and amending same to designate existing provision as clause (i) and add clause (ii) re executed, acknowledged and witnessed as provided in Secs. 1-350d and 1-350r(a), designating existing provision re corporation, limited liability corporation or partnership as Subpara. (B) and making a technical and conforming change.

See chapter 821a re forms of deeds and mortgages.

See Sec. 7-34a re recording fees.

When an unacknowledged deed is admissible in evidence. 3 D. 500; 3 C. 398. What defect in certificate of acknowledgment is fatal. 2 C. 527; 3 C. 406; 11 C. 129. Whether a deed attested by only one witness was valid under the colony laws of 1672. 3 C. 35. The acknowledgment cannot be proved by parol. Id., 406; 11 C. 129. When chancery will supply defects in attestation. 4 C. 344; 5 C. 468; 8 C. 549. Cancellation of a deed, duly executed and delivered, does not revest the title. 4 C. 550; 5 C. 86, 262. Record of deed, defectively attested, not constructive notice. 5 C. 468; 87 C. 369. General agent of manufacturing company cannot execute deed of company's real estate. 7 C. 214. Material alteration makes a new attestation necessary. 8 C. 289. Corporation may by vote, without power of attorney, empower agent to convey its real estate; such agent must affix corporate seal to deed. Id., 191; 27 C. 538. Signature must be made by party's own hand. 13 C. 192. Vote of corporation authorizing execution of deed need not be under corporate seal nor recorded with deed. 14 C. 594. Witnesses must be disinterested. 26 C. 195. When “personally appeared ... signer and sealer”, etc., a sufficient acknowledgment. 30 C. 344. Unsigned recorded mortgage absolutely void. 44 C. 321. In equity, an absolute deed can by parol be proved to be a mortgage. 72 C. 720; 74 C. 252; 79 C. 340; 85 C. 46; 89 C. 178; 93 C. 66. Acknowledgment taken by agent of grantee. 77 C. 276. Deed conveys title but does not purport to express agreement of parties; counterclaim for deficiency in acreage. 97 C. 350. Delivery and acceptance necessary; leaving with maker's own attorney is inoperative where no instructions given; requisites for valid gift inter vivos. Id., 483. Applies, by reference, to chattel mortgages. 105 C. 772. Effect of validating acts. 109 C. 312. The attestation clause of a deed which is in the possession of the grantee is prima facie proof of delivery. 146 C. 307. In proceeding to set aside a conveyance, the burden of proof on issue of undue influence rests on the one alleging it, except when it appears that a stranger, holding toward the grantor a relationship of trust and confidence, is the principal beneficiary to the exclusion of others who are the natural objects of grantor's bounty. 147 C. 474. Agreement to divide money representing income from property or proceeds from its sale was a contract and not a conveyance of land and it was not necessary it be executed in accordance with section. 156 C. 12. Cited. 207 C. 555; 218 C. 512; 232 C. 645.

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; 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. 51 CA 733. 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; 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, 486. 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 directive of Subsec. 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.

(Return to Chapter
Table of Contents)		 (Return to
List of Chapters)		 (Return to
List of Titles)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 43 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1961–2024 · leading case: Webster Bank v. Flanagan, 725 A.2d 975 (Conn. App. Ct. 1999).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Webster Bank v. Flanagan, 725 A.2d 975 (Conn. App. Ct. 1999). · cites it 9× “The mortgage was subscribed by two witnesses as required by General Statutes § 47-5. Additionally, the mortgage was attested to by Flanagan in the presence of a commissioner of the Superior Court.”
Treglia v. Zanesky, 788 A.2d 1263 (Conn. App. Ct. 2001). · cites it 9× “General Statutes § 47-5 1 sets out formal requirements for conveyances of real property.”
McCutcheon & Burr, Inc. v. Berman, 590 A.2d 438 (Conn. 1991). · cites it 5× “General Statutes § 47-5 provides in pertinent part: “(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…”
Alexson v. Foss, 887 A.2d 872 (Conn. 2006). · cites it 5× “The language in § 47-28 referring to the enforceability of the award against the “parties to the same and their heirs” conceivably could apply only to the discrete situation of an unrecorded submission and award, and not save a submission or award not executed in accordance with…”
Hannaford v. Mann, 38 A.3d 1239 (Conn. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 11× “” As previously stated, however, the issue before the trial court, and now this court on review, does not implicate any disputed facts but presents a pure question of law.”
Kovacs v. Kasper, 565 A.2d 18 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1989). · cites it 7× “Section 20-325a (b) (5) requires a listing agreement to “be signed by the owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner only by a written document executed in the manner provided for conveyances in section 47-5 .”
Palozie v. Palozie, 927 A.2d 903 (Conn. 2007). · cites it 5× “[the plaintiff] were not always without conflict in their relationship,” as reflected by a family violence protective order issued against the plaintiff on behalf of the decedent in 1990; and (2) the quitclaim deed “was never recorded, nor was it properly acknowledged as…”
Bank of Stamford v. Alaimo, 622 A.2d 1057 (Conn. App. Ct. 1993). · cites it 6× “In the motion to disgorge and the motion to dismiss, the defendant claimed that the mortgage and the mortgage modification were invalid and unenforceable because the documents had not been contemporaneously witnessed and acknowledged as required by General Statutes § 47-5, and…”
Ulster Sav. Bank v. 28 Brynwood Lane, Ltd., 41 A.3d 1077 (Conn. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 4× “2d 479 (1996); accordingly, the provisions of General Statutes § 47-5 generally apply, including the requirement that a conveyance be “attested to by two witnesses with their own hands.”
Location Realty, Inc. v. Gen. Fin. Servs., Inc., 873 A.2d 163 (Conn. 2005). · cites it 4× “ement: "THE REAL ESTATE BROKER MAY BE ENTITLED TO CERTAIN LIEN RIGHTS PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-325a OF THE CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES", and (7) be signed by the person or persons for whom the acts were done or services rendered or by an agent authorized to act on behalf of such…”
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Fratarcangeli, 192 Conn. App. 159 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 8× “While at the defen- dant’s home, Salerno had the defendant execute all of the necessary closing documents, including the mort- gage deed, but Salerno did not notarize those docu- ments while at the defendant’s home and did not request or provide a second attesting witness to the…”
Location Realty, Inc. v. Colaccino, 949 A.2d 1189 (Conn. 2008). · cites it 2× “ement: ‘THE REAL ESTATE BROKER MAY BE ENTITLED TO CERTAIN LIEN RIGHTS PURSUANT TO SECTION 20-325a OF THE CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES’, and (7) be signed by the person or persons for whom the acts were done or services rendered or by an agent authorized to act on behalf of such…”
Show all 43 citing cases →
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5(a) — 1 case
Rescia Ch. 7 Tr. v. Freedom Mortg. Corp. (Bankr. D. Conn. 2021).
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5(a)(3) — 1 case
Maloney v. Am. Nat'l Bank (In re Terkeltaub), 117 B.R. 47 (Bankr. D. Conn. 1990).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.