Who Can Be A Witness To An Agreement
The Legal Committee has recently considered this issue, and the current position is that the witness must be physically in the presence of the signatory to testify. So, no, it`s not possible (although the law is probably reformed in the years to come). As I said, most contracts do not explicitly require you to have a witness. However, for documents that do, it is important that you take this step or that you may not be able to use your document as intended. This article examines who can testify to your signature in a legal document and the documents you may have to create. One of the most common types of agreements we work with is the transfer of intellectual property rights (IP). The attribution of the IP may be considered an act, but it is not necessary in many cases. This may also be the case for other agreements that you control. If a document was created as an act, you should consider whether it can be changed to be executed as a simple contract (in this case, no witnesses are required). “… the requirement of the applicable law that an act must be signed “in the presence of a witness” requires the physical presence of that witness. This is also the case when the person performing the act and the witness execute/certify the document with an electronic signature. The first thing to know is that only the adult`s signature for a replacement agreement must be certified. The adult and the witness must be together at the same time and observe each other.
(The adult refers to the person to whom the agreement belongs. Only the two people who enter into the contract (for example. B a computer contract or ALS) must sign it. But there are a few exceptions and things to consider. Most agreements do not need witnesses to sign them. Most agreements do not even need to be signed by the parties that conclude the agreement. Most agreements do not even need to be concluded in writing. While witnesses are not always a prerequisite for executing a legal document, they can help consolidate and authenticate your contract by proving that signatures are legal and consensual.
Originally published on April 15, 2021