Many legal documents need to be signed and witnessed. Usually, this means that handwritten signatures are required, and the witness must be present in person. I have a transfer document for the sale of our investment property in Queensland that requires my signature. We have a looming deadline for the property settlement, so getting the document signed on time has become quite difficult.
The conveyancer's instructions specifically say that the document needs to be signed in the presence of the witness. As the property sale occurs in Queensland, we are subject to their state laws for settlement, and the Queensland state government is not allowing electronic signatures. The witness also needs to be a justice of the peace or a legal practitioner. This means you just can't take the document to the Post Office and get the person there to witness the signature.
There has to be more than one way to skin a cat. I have located a solicitor through my wife's work. I will have to do an online signing of the documents for the solicitor to witness my signature, and then I will send it all off to him in the post to sign as the witness. He will sign the documents and then send them back to us. Job done.
The conveyancer's instructions specifically say that the document needs to be signed in the presence of the witness. As the property sale occurs in Queensland, we are subject to their state laws for settlement, and the Queensland state government is not allowing electronic signatures. The witness also needs to be a justice of the peace or a legal practitioner. This means you just can't take the document to the Post Office and get the person there to witness the signature.
There has to be more than one way to skin a cat. I have located a solicitor through my wife's work. I will have to do an online signing of the documents for the solicitor to witness my signature, and then I will send it all off to him in the post to sign as the witness. He will sign the documents and then send them back to us. Job done.
