SignAndGoSending a settlement and release agreement.
A settlement agreement closes off a dispute: an unpaid account, a disagreement with a supplier, or the end of a working relationship. By the time it reaches signing, the hard part is done, and the risk is a last-minute delay or a mix-up over versions. Here is how to send your own agreed document cleanly.
Confirm the document and how it is signed
Settlement and release documents are written by the parties' advisers. Some are drafted as deeds, and those can have particular signing requirements. Before you send through SignAndGo, confirm with your adviser how your document needs to be signed. SignAndGo handles the sending, the order and the record; it does not decide what form the document should take.
Make sure everyone has the same version
Drafts of a settlement pass back and forth quickly near the end, and the version you send must be the one everyone agreed. Run version compare between the final draft and the one before it to see the last changes in plain language, then send that exact file. Once it is in an envelope, nobody can quietly edit it.
Signers and fields
Keep the fields to what the document asks for. A settlement is a document people read carefully, and clutter does not help.
- Signature, name and date for each party, or for each person signing for a company.
- Initials beside any amendment made in the final round.
- A text field for bank account details, if a payment is part of the settlement.
- A tick box confirming the party has had the chance to take advice, if your document includes one.
Order matters here
Often the party receiving a payment signs first, and the paying party signs last, once the release is in hand. Use an ordered envelope so the second signer is not invited until the first has finished. Each side's adviser can be copied in so they receive the completed agreement at the same moment as their client.
If a party has second thoughts, they can decline with a reason, and everyone can see that the agreement did not complete.
A record that closes the matter
When the final party signs, each person receives the completed agreement and its completion certificate. The audit trail records every view and signature with names, times and IP addresses, which is useful if anyone later asks when the agreement was concluded. Keep the envelope rather than a forwarded attachment, so the record stays with the document.
Common questions
- Can I send a deed through SignAndGo?
- Check with your adviser how your document needs to be signed before you send it. SignAndGo does not advise on that.
- Can advisers receive the signed agreement?
- Yes. Copy them in and they get the completed document when the last party signs.
- Can the paying party sign last?
- Yes. Use an ordered envelope and put them at the end.