Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 (2026)

Forms for acknowledgments and certificates of authority

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 42. The forms set forth in the appendix to this chapter and in section 15 of chapter 222 for taking acknowledgments to deeds and other instruments and for certifying the authority of officers taking proofs or acknowledgments may be used but the existence of those forms shall not preclude the use of any other forms lawfully used as required or authorized by any general or special law or any regulation or executive order regulating notaries public, including forms that acknowledge the voluntary act of an individual executing a document in a representative capacity but fail to acknowledge the deed or instrument as the voluntary or free act of the principal or grantor.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1952–2016 · leading case: Weiss v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Kelley), 498 B.R. 392 (1st Cir. BAP 2013).

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Weiss v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Kelley), 498 B.R. 392 (1st Cir. BAP 2013). · cites it 2× “” Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 . These include a form for the acknowledgment of an individual acting by an attorney.”

Bank of Am., N.A. v. Casey, 52 N.E.3d 1030 (Mass. 2016). “See G. L. c. 183, §42. The reason for requiring a certificate of acknowledgment to be appended to a deed as a condition of the deed’s proper recording is most fundamentally to ensure that public notice of the transfer of title to the land, appearing in the registry’s record, is…”

In Re Dessources, 430 B.R. 330 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2010). “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 29 . 31 . Mass.”

Agin v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC (In re Shubert), 535 B.R. 488 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2015). “” Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 . Use of the suggested statutory forms is not mandatory.”

HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Lassman, 550 B.R. 157 (D. Mass. 2016). “” Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 . These include a form for acknowledgment through an attorney-in-fact: *160 [n]o deed shall be recorded unless a certificate of its acknowledgment or of the proof of its due execution, (or all three) made as hereinafter provided, is endorsed upon…”

DeGiacomo v. First Call Mortg. Co. (In re Reznikov), 548 B.R. 606 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2016). “"Although Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 references forms set forth in the appendix to the statute for taking acknowledgments, the use of those forms is not mandatory.”

Ashkenazy v. RM Bradley & Co. Inc., 103 N.E.2d 251 (Mass. 1952). “There is no reasonable ground for argument that G. L. c. 183, § 42, in effect when the deed in question was executed, was intended to reinstate the confused situation which apparently existed after the passage of St.”

Greater Love Tabernacle Church v. VFC Partners 18 LLC (In re Greater Love Tabernacle Church), 536 B.R. 38 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2015). “Although Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, § 42 references forms set forth in the appendix to the statute for taking acknowledgments, the use of those forms is not mandatory.”

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