S19.6.1 Witness Names
Witnesses must be named (apart from their signature) and designed. The Act states that they should sign with the full name by which they are identified in the document or by a surname, preceded by at least one forename (or initial or abbreviation or familiar form of forename.) This is the same rule as for the subscription of a Granter of a deed. Therefore, if a witness was named “John A Smith” in the testing clause and signed either “John A Smith”, “John Smith”, “J Smith” or “J A Smith”, then this would be acceptable. If he was named as “John Smith” and signed “John A Smith” or “J A Smith” then this may be questionable.
Reference: Section 7(5) of the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995.
Registers of Scotland (RoS) seeks to ensure that the information published in the Sasines Manual is up to date and accurate but it may be amended from time to time.
The Manual is an internal document intended for RoS staff only. The information in the Manual does not constitute legal or professional advice and RoS cannot accept any liability for actions arising from its use.
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