SignAndGoWitnessed documents: what to check before you send.
Some documents carry a line for a witness under each signature. If you are moving your paperwork onto a screen, those are the ones to slow down for. This guide explains what witnessing involves in general terms and how to plan around it. It does not tell you which documents need a witness: that question belongs with your adviser.
What a witness does
A witness is someone who watches a person sign and then signs themselves to say so. They usually add their name, occupation and address. The idea is that an independent person can later confirm that the signer really was the one who signed.
Many organisations also have their own preferences about who may act as a witness, for example someone who isn't a party to the document or a family member of the signer.
Spot them early
Go through the documents your business handles and look for a witness block. Deeds, some property and finance documents, and certain forms from banks or government agencies often have one. Make a list, and put the question of how each should be signed to your adviser before changing anything.
Doing this once saves the awkward moment of sending a document electronically and having it rejected by the other side weeks later.
- Look for a witness signature block on the page.
- Note who asked for the document and whether they want an original.
- Ask your adviser how that document should be signed.
Keep the rest of the set moving
Often only one document in a pack needs a witness. A new tenancy might include an application, a direct debit form, a property inspection report and a document your adviser says should be signed face to face. There's no reason for the whole pack to wait.
Send the documents that can be signed on screen through SignAndGo, and handle the witnessed one on its own path. The envelope's status tells you when the electronic part is done.
Records that help either way
For anything sent through SignAndGo, the audit trail shows every view and signature with names, email addresses, times and IP addresses. Each signer gets the finished document with a completion certificate, and a verification ID lets anyone check it online. That record is useful whether or not a witness is involved elsewhere in the process.
When an approver is what you really need
Sometimes a business asks for a witness out of habit, when what it actually wants is a second person inside the organisation to look the document over. In that case an approver, who reviews before or after the signers, may suit the purpose better. Check with your adviser if the document's wording calls for a witness specifically.
Common questions
- Does SignAndGo tell me if a document needs a witness?
- No. Ask your adviser, or the organisation that issued the document.
- Can I send the other documents in the pack electronically?
- Yes. Anything that can be signed on screen can go out in an envelope while the witnessed document is handled separately.
- What does the audit trail record?
- Each view and signature, with names, email addresses, times and IP addresses.