West Virginia Code
Article 1. General Provisions
§39B-1-119. Acceptance of and Reliance Upon Acknowledged Power of Attorney

(a) For purposes of this section and section one hundred five of this article, "acknowledged" means purportedly verified before a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments.
(b) A person who in good faith accepts an acknowledged power of attorney without actual knowledge that the signature is not genuine may rely upon the presumption under the provisions of section one hundred five of this article that the signature is genuine.
(c) A person who in good faith accepts an acknowledged power of attorney without actual knowledge that the power of attorney is void, invalid or terminated, that the purported agent's authority is void, invalid or terminated, or that the agent is exceeding or improperly exercising the agent's authority may rely upon the power of attorney as if the power of attorney were genuine, valid and still in effect, the agent's authority were genuine, valid and still in effect, and the agent had not exceeded and had properly exercised the authority except as to a conveyance of interests in real property where the principal has previously filed a notice of termination of the power of attorney in the office of the clerk of the county commission in the county in which the property is located.
(d) A person who is asked to accept an acknowledged power of attorney may request, and rely upon, without further investigation:
(1) An agent's certification under penalty of perjury of any factual matter concerning the principal, agent or power of attorney;
(2) An English translation of the power of attorney if the power of attorney contains, in whole or in part, language other than English; and
(3) An opinion of counsel as to any matter of law concerning the power of attorney if the person making the request provides in a writing or other record the reason for the request.
(e) An English translation or an opinion of counsel requested under this section must be provided at the principal's expense unless the request is made more than seven business days after the power of attorney is presented for acceptance.
(f) For purposes of this section and the act, a person who conducts activities through employees is without actual knowledge of a fact relating to a power of attorney, a principal or an agent if the employee conducting the transaction involving the power of attorney is without actual knowledge of the fact.

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