Solicitor Ed Williams, in our Commercial Property team, explains how deeds should be witnessed.
Deeds require a witness to observe your signature when you sign them. Deeds are required for various transaction and in particular when purchasing or selling a property or entering into a lease.
What is witness and why do we need a witness?
A witness must watch you sign the document and then sign it themselves to confirm they observed you doing so. A witness cannot sign to confirm they have witnessed your signature if they are shown a pre-signed document or are not physically present at the signing.
Witnessing rules exist primarily to prevent forgery and disputes arising about whether a person has actually signed a document. If someone later challenges whether you signed, your witness would be expected to confirm that they saw you sign the document. Having a witness may also help prevent coercion because having a third party in the room provides an opportunity to raise concerns if someone is being pressured into signing.
Who can be a witness?
This will depend on the transaction, but with that said the following criteria for a witness is good practice:
- Over 18 years old.
- Not related to the signatory by birth or marriage: legislation does not prevent a signatory’s spouse, civil partner or cohabitee from acting as a witness (if they are not a party to a deed), but this is best avoided to prevent any challenges to the execution of a document.
- A party to the deed cannot witness the signature of another party to the same deed.
The witness must clearly fill in their name, address and other details (as requested) in the appropriate section of the document. This is because it is important that they can be easily identified in the future. Incomplete witness details may also lead to HM Land Registry requisitions and therefore registration delays.
Witnessing a signature may seem straightforward, but it is important that it is dealt with properly. A surprising number of transactions are delayed due to incorrect witnessing or incomplete details. When in doubt, seek legal advice to ensure compliance with the relevant requirements.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
