When any instrument of writing shall have been on record in the office of the register of deeds in the proper county for the period of ten (10) years, and there is a defect in such instrument because it has not been signed by the proper officer of any corporation, or because of any discrepancy in the corporate name, or because the corporate seal of the corporation has not been impressed on such instrument, or because the record does not show such seal, or because such instrument is not acknowledged, or because of any defect in the execution, acknowledgment, recording or certificate of recording the same, such instrument shall, from and after the expiration of ten (10) years from the filing thereof for record, be valid as though such instrument had, in the first instance, been in all respects duly executed, acknowledged, and certified, and contained the true corporate name, and such instrument shall, after the expiration of ten (10) years from the filing of the same for record, impart to subsequent purchasers, encumbrancers and all other persons whomsoever, notice of such instrument of writing so far as and to the same extent that the same may then be recorded, copied or noted in such books of record, notwithstanding such defect.

Such instrument or the record thereof, or a duly authenticated copy thereof, shall be competent evidence without requiring the original to be produced or accounted for to the same extent that written instruments, duly executed and acknowledged, or the record thereof, are competent: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect any rights acquired by grantees, assignees or encumbrancers subsequent to the filing of such instrument for record and prior to the expiration of ten (10) years from the filing of such instrument for record.