The Citrus County, Fla., clerk sent a public notice reminding recording entities that beginning Jan. 1, 2024, certain documents recorded in the official records must include the post office address of each witness in addition to the witness’ name.
It noted that because of changes to section 695.26 of the Florida Statutes, the clerk’s office may not accept documents submitted for recording without the required witness address information.
“The new requirement applies to any ‘instrument by which the title to real property or any interest therein is conveyed, assigned, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of,’” the notice states. “In plain English, this means deeds and other documents that affect the ownership of real estate.
“All deeds and easements notarized in Florida require witness names, so these documents will now also require witness addresses,” the notice continued. “Other documents ‘by which title to real property or interest is conveyed, assigned, encumbered or disposed of’ may or may not have witnesses, but an address is required if a witness is included. If there are no witnesses on these other documents, then no addresses are required.”
Those that use standard forms for deeds or other affected documents must update their forms to include the witness address before Jan. 1.