Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/200

–104– -104§ 732. Authentication of certificate of acknowledgment Officers taking and certifying acknowledgments, or proof of instruments for record, shall authenticate their certificates by affixing thereto their signatures, followed by the names of their offices; also, their seals of office, if by the laws of the State or country where the acknowledgment or proof is taken, or by authority of which they are acting, they are required to have official seals. § 733. Proof of execution Proof of the execution of an instrument, when not acknowledged, may be made either by: (1) the party executing it; or either of the parties; or (2) a subscribing witness; or (3) other witnesses, in cases mentioned in section 1125 of this title. § 734. Identity of witness If execution is to be proved by a subscribing witness, he must be personally known to the officer taking the proof to be the person whose name is subscribed to the instrument as a witness, or must be proved to be such by the oath of a credible witness. § 735. Items to be proved by subscribing witness The subscribing witness referred to m sections 733 and 734 of this title shall prove that: (1) the person whose name is subscribed to the instrument as a party: (A) is the person described in it; and (B) that he executed it; and (2) the witness subscribed his name thereto as a witness. § 736. Proof of handwriting The execution of an instrument may be established by proof of the handwriting of the party and of a subscribing witness, if there is one, when the: (1) parties and all the subscribing witnesses are dead; (2) parties and all the subscribing witnesses are nonresidents of the Canal Zone; (3) place of their residence is unknown to the party desiring the proof, and cannot be ascertained by the exercise of due diligence; (4) subscribing witness conceals himself, or cannot be found by the officer by the exercise of due diligence in attempting to serve the subpoena or attachment; or (5) failure or refusal of the witness to testify continues for the space of one hour after his appearance. § 737. Evidence of handwriting The evidence taken pursuant to section 736 of this title must satisfactorily prove to the officer: (1) the existence of one or more of the conditions specified by section 736 of this title; (2) that the witness testifying knew the person whose name purports to be subscribed to the instrument as a party, and is well acquainted with his signature, and that it is genuine; ^ (3) that the witness testifying personally knew the person who subscribed the instrument as a witness, and is well acquainted with his signature, and that it is genuine; and (4) the place of residence of the witness.

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