What interesting times we live in! Having personally been in practice for 40 years and having been pedantic in our policy of how legal documents are properly signed and witnessed, we are now able to use technology to be able to remotely witness you signing documents.

Technology can now be used to sign and witness legal documents

Regulations have now come into play from the NSW Government which allow the use of video conferencing (such as Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp and FaceTime) for us to watch our client sign a document and then attest to being a witness to that document.

The documents might be:

• your Will;
• an Enduring Power of Attorney;
• an Appointment of Enduring Guardian;
• a Deed or an Agreement;
• an Affidavit; or
• a Statutory Declaration.

How will ‘remote’ signing of documents work?

The process is quite straightforward.

We are able to watch you sign the document, in real-time via the video conference, and then we attest or otherwise confirm that your signature was witnessed.

This is done by way of us signing the document at a later time or by signing a copy of the document. We also need to add some wording to the document or the copy of the document, as required by the Regulations, referring to how the document was witnessed; i.e. by electronic means.

We are certainly grateful that this is now available during this pandemic as it will be better for you in not having to leave your home or work and better for us in being able to get your legal work completed in a timely manner!

The Regulations will remain in place for the next 6 months unless changed earlier by Parliament.

Get help from a Wills and Estates lawyer

Contacting E&A Lawyers

For more information or to arrange a consultation with a lawyer, you can call or email us.

📞  02 9997 2111

📧  info@ealawyers.com.au