- Apr 23, 2020

Video technology for witnessing legal documents

Video conferencing technology like Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom can now be used in the witnessing of important legal documents like wills, powers of attorney and statutory declarations. The new temporary regulation will help reduce face-to-face contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new regulation, a witness must see a person signing the document in real time to confirm the signature is legitimate, but now they can do so using video conferencing technology. The witness will sign the document, or a copy of the document, to confirm they witnessed the signature. This could be done on a hard copy that is scanned and sent to the witness or on an identical counterpart of the document the signatory signs. Traditional methods of signing and witnessing these documents remain valid while the regulation is in force.

COMMENTS : Due to the risks associated with comments from unidentified contributors that expose The Beagle to possible legal actions under the NSW Defamation Act 2005 No 77 anonymous or Nom de Plume comments will not be available until an alternate system of author verification can be investigated and hopefully installed.

Those who provide their REAL NAME (first name AND Surname) and a verifiable email address (it won't be published) are invited to comment below. (yes it is a pain but please comply - it would be a shame to see your comment deleted)

Those contributors KNOWN to us and verified may continue to use their First Name for ease. The primary need for all of this is due to traceability should a legal action arise.

If you need anonymity email us via our normal or encrypted email accounts

Please note that if you are looking for a previous comment that is no longer visible please contact us.