Could e-signing be used for wills or lasting powers of attorney? Daniel Watson considers the risks
- Looks at the use of e-signatures in the context of commercial transactions and their potential use in wills and LPAs.
The Law Commission’s recent consultation paper on the validity of e-signatures provisionally concludes that a typed name, or clicking an ‘I accept’ button, is capable of satisfying a statutory requirement for a document to be signed or executed under hand in the context of many legal documents (see the commission’s consultation on ‘The electronic execution of documents’). This is so provided that there is an authenticating intention on the part of the signatory. The paper’s conclusion is based on a combination of case law, statute, and the eIDAS Regulation (eIDAS), which has had direct effect since 1 July 2016.
Giving equal force to e-signatures is sensible from a business perspective, allowing contracts to be signed and circulated quickly. However, the use of electronic signatures is not always secure and it is not always possible to identify an authentic e-signature. This could be particularly
