{"id":6584,"date":"2022-05-31T19:50:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T19:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifg.local\/articles\/signing-and-witnessing-a-will-electronically\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T10:04:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T10:04:37","slug":"signing-and-witnessing-a-will-electronically","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/articles\/signing-and-witnessing-a-will-electronically","title":{"rendered":"Signing and witnessing a Will electronically &#8211; IslamicFinanceGuru"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Covid has presented unique challenges for people: more than ever people are thinking of making their Will but they are less able to meet up with others so that they can act as witnesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">So what do we do?<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\">\u200b<span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">What are the current requirements for witnessing a Will?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">For your will to be a legally valid document, you should make sure it is executed and witnessed properly. Here is the criteria to keep in mind for a Will to be valid:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The Will must be in writing and signed by the testator (will-maker);<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">It is made apparent that the testator intended to complete the Will by signing it;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The testator signs the Will;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses must have a clear line of sight of the signing and should of the other witness also.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses must understand that they are that they are witnessing and acknowledging the signing of the Will.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Two witnesses sign the Will to acknowledge that they have witnessed him intending to give effect to the Will by signing it in their presence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Nothing should be done to cast doubt on whether the testator fully knows what they are doing and intend to create the Will without any undue influenced by anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">A witness can be anyone above the age of 18 who is not blind or an inheritor in the Will (or their spouse). If an inheritor or person receiving a gift in the Will acts as a witness then their gift\/share will be void.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"western\" align=\"left\">\u200b<span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><b>N<\/b>ew rules in light of Covid-19<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">You may have heard that electronic signatures are now allowed- this is NOT the case for Wills. In order to avoid potential fraud, electronic signatures remain invalid for Wills.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The law now allows witnesses to be \u2018present\u2019 over video link until the 31<sup>st<\/sup> January 2022, provided:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The testator and their two witnesses each have a clear line of sight of the writing of the signature.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses must see the will being signed live and the Will-maker must see each witness sign live.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">It is recommended that the whole signing and witnessing process is recorded and the recording kept safe.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Ultimately, where it is possible to sign and witness a Will in the normal way, this is preferable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">If you are intending to have witnesses present over video call, please inform us so we can amend the signature page of the Will to reflect this.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>\u200b<span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">recommended <\/span><\/span>process for witnessing a Will <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">electronically<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"western\" align=\"left\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Stage 1:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The&nbsp;Will-maker ensures that the two witnesses can see them, each other, and their actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The&nbsp;Will-maker or the witnesses should record the signing video stream and it should be made clear that the intention is to sign the Will.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The&nbsp;Will-maker should show the witnesses the front page of the Will and then the page they will be signing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses should verbally confirm that they can clearly see the signature page and the place where the signature will be placed and that they understand their role in witnessing the signing of the Will.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Stage 2:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">T<\/span><\/span><\/span>he Will-maker should state, \u2018I <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">[full legal name]<\/span><\/span><\/span> wish to make a <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">W<\/span><\/span><\/span>ill of my own free will. I am now signing the <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">W<\/span><\/span><\/span>ill before [full <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">names of the two witnesses]<\/span><\/span><\/span>, who are remotely witnessing me sign it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">They should sign the Will and date their signature.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Show the signature up for the witnesses to see and state \u201cthis is my signature, intended to give effect to my intention to make this Will.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses should acknowledge that they have seen the signature and date on the Will.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Stage 3:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The same Will document must now be signed by the two witnesses (stapling the document is recommended to keep it whole).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The Will <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">should be delivered to each of the witnesses in turn for their signing \u2013 this should be done as soon as possible as the longer it is left the more potential for problems and, if the Will-maker dies before witnessing the witnesses signing the document, the Will will not be legally <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">valid<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">When the witnesses are signing the Will it must be done over video-link and recorded in the same way as the Will-maker did with the Will-maker watching live (and preferably with the other witness watching live as well).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witnesses should hold up the <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">W<\/span><\/span><\/span>ill to show that they are signing it and should then sign it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The witness should then hold up the signed <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">W<\/span><\/span><\/span>ill so that the signature can be clearly seen and verbally confirm that it is their signature.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more Islamic will FAQs see our detailed guide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.\/islamicfinanceguru.com\/islamic-wills-uk-guide\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Covid has presented unique challenges for people: more than ever people are thinking of making their Will but they are less able to meet up with others so that they can act as witnesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":6585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[33],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}