Any oath, affirmation or affidavit, required or authorized to be taken or made in any suit or legal proceeding in this State or for any lawful purpose whatever, by any person in the military, naval or air force service of the United States or the spouse of any such person, or by any person who, is serving as a merchant seaman outside the limits of the United States included within the 48 States and the District of Columbia or, is outside said limits by permission, assignment or direction of any department or official of the United States Government in connection with any activity pertaining to the prosecution of any war in which the United States is then engaged, or, in time of emergency, for use within this State or any acknowledgment or proof of any deed or other instrument, relating to real or personal property within this State, by any such person or the spouse of any person in such military, naval or air force service, in order to entitle such deed or instrument to be recorded or filed in any public office of this State, may be taken or made before any commissioned officer of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps and the recital that he is such commissioned officer, including a recital of his rank and official designation as such and that the person taking or making such oath, affirmation or acknowledgment or making any such proof is in the military, naval or air force service of the United States or is the spouse of any such person or is serving as a merchant seaman outside the limits of the United States included within the 48 States and the District of Columbia or is outside said limits by permission, assignment or direction of any department or official of the United States Government in connection with any activity pertaining to the prosecution of any war in which the United States is then engaged, or in time of emergency, in the jurat or certificate of such oath, affirmation, affidavit, acknowledgment or proof over his signature as such commissioned officer shall be sufficient proof that the person before whom the same is taken or made is such an officer and that such person taking or making such oath, affirmation, affidavit or acknowledgment or making such proof is in the military, naval or air force service of the United States or is the spouse of any such person or is serving as a merchant seaman outside the limits of the United States included within the 48 States and the District of Columbia or is outside said limits by permission, assignment or direction of any department or official of the United States in connection with any activity pertaining to the prosecution of any war in which the United States is then engaged, or in time of emergency at the time of the taking or making the same and such oath, affirmation, affidavit, acknowledgment or proof when so taken or made and certified shall have the same force and effect as though taken or made before any other officer of this State authorized to take oaths, acknowledgments and proofs and any such deed or instrument when so acknowledged or proved, if otherwise sufficient, shall be entitled to recording or filing in any public office of this State without any other or additional certificate of the authority of such officer to take the acknowledgment or proof of the execution thereof. Any such certificate of acknowledgment shall be valid and sufficient to all intents and purposes, if it certifies that the party making such instrument appeared before such officer and acknowledged the same to be his act and deed; and any affidavit of proof by a witness, made before such officer shall be sufficient to all intents and purposes if the affiant swears that the party making such instrument executed and delivered the same as his act and deed. The failure to state the place of execution of any such deed or other instrument or of any such oath, affirmation, affidavit, acknowledgment or proof shall not invalidate the same deed or other instrument or said oath, affirmation, affidavit, acknowledgment or proof.

As used in this act the term “in time of emergency” shall mean and include any time after June 23, 1950, and prior to the termination, suspension or revocation of the proclamation of the existence of a national emergency issued by the President of the United States on December 16, 1950, or termination of the existence of such national emergency by appropriate action of the President or Congress of the United States.

L.1941, c. 333, p. 889, s. 1. Amended by L.1943, c. 156, p. 438, s. 1; L.1945, c. 234, p. 755, s. 2; L.1951, c. 92, p. 493, s. 1; L.1957, c. 136, p. 521, s. 1; L.1959, c. 74, p. 191, s. 2, eff. June 8, 1959.