What makes a valid online signature

[Gerry557]

I need some signatures on a statement to Beneficiaries basically accepting/agreeing the final estate accounts for my records as exeutor.

Email is quick but is attaching an online signature enought or do I need it signed and snail mailed.

What is acceptable electronically. I assume it can be done one way or another.

[chas49]

A quick search found this (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -documents)

Electronic signatures can be used to execute documents, including where there is a statutory requirement for a signature, the Law Commission has confirmed. This means that, in most cases, electronic signatures can be used as a viable alternative to handwritten ones.

Businesses and individuals are already using electronic signatures on contracts every day. But despite this frequent use, the Commission has found that some parties still have doubts over whether an electronic signature can be used in particular situations.

In the report, the Law Commission has set out a simple statement of the law to end that uncertainty and increase confidence in the use of this technology.

Find out more on the Law Commission website.

[Clitheroekid]

The only point of a signature is to show that the signatory has expressed their agreement. Consequently, you don't need a signature at all - an email from the beneficiary confirming they approve the accounts is perfectly adequate.

If you still insist on a signature then a scanned copy is fine.

[Gerry557]

Thanks all.

I note docusign might have been a good idea in hindsight

[UncleEbenezer]

The only point of a signature is to show that the signatory has expressed their agreement. Consequently, you don't need a signature at all - an email from the beneficiary confirming they approve the accounts is perfectly adequate.

Presumably caveated by "so long as all parties agree the authenticity of that email"?

As a techie I'd look for evidence. Strong evidence (stronger than a signature on paper) being a verifiable cryptographic signature, other evidence ranging from worthless to a supporting role. But whereas I do have the techie knowledge to evaluate such evidence, I don't have the legal knowledge to say how a court or other arbitrator might view it.

[simoan]

The only point of a signature is to show that the signatory has expressed their agreement. Consequently, you don't need a signature at all - an email from the beneficiary confirming they approve the accounts is perfectly adequate.

Presumably caveated by "so long as all parties agree the authenticity of that email"?

As a techie I'd look for evidence. Strong evidence (stronger than a signature on paper) being a verifiable cryptographic signature, other evidence ranging from worthless to a supporting role. But whereas I do have the techie knowledge to evaluate such evidence, I don't have the legal knowledge to say how a court or other arbitrator might view it.

I used to work in technology, including licensing intellectual property. I can confirm CK is correct and all you need for an effective signature is an analogue signed and scanned copy of the document for UK legal purposes.

However, I used to use Signable (signable.co.uk) to keep things as simple as possible for customers on the move without access to document scanning facilities. It’s very simple to use and the free trial may be enough for the OPs requirement.

[UncleEbenezer]

Presumably caveated by "so long as all parties agree the authenticity of that email"?

As a techie I'd look for evidence. Strong evidence (stronger than a signature on paper) being a verifiable cryptographic signature, other evidence ranging from worthless to a supporting role. But whereas I do have the techie knowledge to evaluate such evidence, I don't have the legal knowledge to say how a court or other arbitrator might view it.

I used to work in technology, including licensing intellectual property. I can confirm CK is correct and all you need for an effective signature is an analogue signed and scanned copy of the document for UK legal purposes.

However, I used to use Signable (signable.co.uk) to keep things as simple as possible for customers on the move without access to document scanning facilities. It’s very simple to use and the free trial may be enough for the OPs requirement.

Either you're missing my point, or the situation is badly screwed up. An email is very easy to forge, and could be seen as broadly equivalent to a letter on paper with no signature, or no more than a typed signature.

In the case of a signature on paper, if its authenticity is challenged you might enlist the help of a handwriting expert (or somesuch) to try and authenticate it. In the case of an email, that's an area of my own expertise, and I was trying to hint at some of the issues while avoiding jargon that would be incomprehensible to a non-techie.

[simoan]

Either you're missing my point, or the situation is badly screwed up. An email is very easy to forge, and could be seen as broadly equivalent to a letter on paper with no signature, or no more than a typed signature.

In the case of a signature on paper, if its authenticity is challenged you might enlist the help of a handwriting expert (or somesuch) to try and authenticate it. In the case of an email, that's an area of my own expertise, and I was trying to hint at some of the issues while avoiding jargon that would be incomprehensible to a non-techie.

Sorry, I didn’t miss your point, it’s just overkill and not relevant. Being a techie my own thoughts were originally the same as yours until I worked with lawyers.I worked with highly paid IP lawyers all over the world, including the largest companies on the planet. Our lawyer was very conservative and used to insist on hand signed paper copies until 5 years ago but it annoyed a lot of US customers because it wasn’t legally necessary once digitally signing documents using Docusign or similar was the norm.

[Gerry557]

Well the originator tried to place electronic signatures into the document but in doing so split the document into x3 documents and also moved some lines of information off the page rendering the process useless.

As they now basically agreed to electronic signatures, as per the return, I did resend using Docusign and it giver a lot of tracking information to go with the signed documents.

So all's well that ends well.