To be recorded in the county, acknowledgments or proofs must be in the same manner as a deed; however, if the instrument is executed within the state, no county clerk certificate is required.

• A. It must be notarized but no acknowledgment is required.
• B. It must be acknowledged or proved and authenticated to be recorded in that county, except that when executed within the state, no certificate of the county clerk shall be required.
• C. It must be acknowledged or proved as a deed, and a county clerk certificate is always required.
• D. It must be signed by the county clerk.

Answer: (B)

Recording in the county requires the instrument to be acknowledged or proved and authenticated, using the same form as a deed. The county clerk certificate comes into play only when the document was executed outside the state; if it was executed within the state, that certificate is not required. This means the statement that it must be acknowledged or proved and authenticated to be recorded, with the in-state exception where no county clerk certificate is needed, is the correct formulation.

Why the other ideas don’t fit: simply being notarized without acknowledgment isn’t enough, because proof or acknowledgment is the formal step needed to show proper execution. The idea that a county clerk certificate is always required ignores the in-state exception. And requiring the county clerk to sign the document itself misstates the clerk’s role, which is to provide the certificate or verification, not to sign the instrument.