S6.9 Testing Clause

The Testing Clause is usually the last clause in a deed. It appears after the main operative part or body of the deed and begins with the words “IN WITNESS WHEREOF”. These words indicate that the preceding operative clauses have ended and ensures that no further clauses can be added.

The purpose of a Testing Clause is to state those details, which in addition to the subscription of the parties and witnesses, are necessary to make the deed probative. The minimum details required in a testing clause are;

a) The designation of the witness (name and address), and
b) Any alterations, which have been made to the deed, must be declared.

Testing clauses will very often give the date and place of signing but these are not essentials.

Styles of Testing Clauses

NOTE: The following styles of Testing Clause are intended only as examples. They are correct themselves, but they are not the only correct styles.

1. Individual signing - Full Form

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are subscribed by me at Edinburgh on the Tenth day of November Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five before the witness, Alastair Digby, Captain in Her Majesty's Life Guards, 70 Tite Street, London

2. Individual signing - Short Form

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are subscribed by me at Edinburgh on the Tenth day of November Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five before this witness:

3. Individual signing - Short Form, another style

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the preceding page are subscribed by me as follows:-
At London
On 10th November, 1995
In the presence of:
(Witness)
(Full Name)
(Occupation)
(Address)

4. Individual signing - Testing Docquet

SUBSCRIBED by me the said
SEBASTIAN FLYTE at London
on the 10th day of November
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety
Five before this witness:-

5. Two individuals signing - at same time

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the two preceding pages together with the Plan annexed hereto are subscribed by us the said Angela Basingstoke and Anthony Berwick Lamb both together at Edinburgh on the First day of October Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five before Caroline Carlyle Frost, Receptionist, of 54 Queen Street, Edinburgh.

6. Two individuals signing - at different times

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the two preceding pages together with the Plan annexed hereto are subscribed as follows: by me the said Angela Basingstoke at Edinburgh on First October Nineteen Ninety Five in the presence of Jonathan Ramsay Steele, of 54 Queen Street, Edinburgh and by me the said Anthony Berwick Lamb at North Berwick on the third day of the month and year last mentioned in the presence of my wife Caroline Blackwood Lamb residing with me at 22 Melbourne Terrace, North Berwick

7. Partnership signing as legal person - with concurring signatures of partner

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents consisting of this and the ten preceding pages together with the three Schedules annexed hereto are subscribed by us (our firm name of Lucas, Bond and Hathaway being adhibited by me the said Anthony Asquith Bond, one of our partners) all together at Edinburgh on the Fifth day of November Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five before witness Thomas Pakenham Seymour, Chartered Accountant, 28, Moray Place, Edinburgh.

8. Company incorporated under Companies Acts - executing through duly authorised signatory acting under Board Minute

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are sealed with our Common Seal and subscribed for us and on our behalf by Eric Engelman, our Senior Administrative Manager, acting under authority of our Board of Directors in terms of Board Minute dated 7th November 1973 both together at Glasgow on Seventeenth September Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five in the presence of Deidre Sullivan, Records Clerkess, employed in our Head Office at Sandeman Street, aforesaid.

9. Two Companies signing - at the same time

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the two preceding pages together with the six Schedules annexed are executed all together at Dunfermline on the Seventh of December Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Five as follows: they are subscribed for us the said Moray Motor Company Limited on our behalf by Maxwell McCalman, one of our Directors and Andrew Fordyce Frazer, our Secretary, and they are subscribed for us the said Moray Offshore Services Limited on our behalf by Alexander Elphinstone, our Managing Director, and Alastair Smallholm, our Finance Director.

10. Erasure in deed
IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the two preceding pages are, under declaration before subscription that the word "together" where it occurs in the tenth line counting from the top of page Second hereof is typewritten on erasure, subscribed by me . . . . . . . . . . . . etc.

11. Interlineation in deed

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this and the two preceding pages are under declaration before subscription that the words "Thurlow or" are interlined so as to be read between the words "Petronella" and "Armstrong" occurring in the sixth line counting from the top of page First hereof, subscribed by me . . . . . . . . . . . . etc.

12. Deletion in deed

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are, under declaration that the words "and fixtures" where they occur for the second time in the seventh line counting from the top of this page are deleted before subscription, subscribed by me . . . . . . . . . . . . etc.

13. Deed partly printed with blanks filled in

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents partly printed and partly typewritten on this and the two preceding pages are subscribed by me . . . . . . . . . . . . etc.

14. Discrepancy between signature and name of witness

IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are subscribed by me at Inverness on Second January 1996 in the presence of Andrew Bethune Mackenzie (subscribing his usual signature "Andy Mackenzie") Law Apprentice, Moorside House, Culloden.