Contract signature

El Camino

Can one person sign a contract as a representative of both parties to the contract i.e. if the same person has authority to bind both parties can they be the only signatory therein? IS this permissible or must 2 separate individuals always sign?

mneylon

No

A contract is between two parties

You need both parties to agree

El Camino

Blacknight wrote: »

No

A contract is between two parties

You need both parties to agree

Is this the case even if there technically are 2 parties i.e. 2 legal entities. Both parties have agreed. One individual just happens to have the legal authority to bind both.

You'd need a lawyer to answer that question. Maybe if the person has the power of attorney it is technically legal, but thats not to say its not impossible to get out of later. It would probably come down to the POA agreement between the entities.

mneylon

El Camino wrote: »

Is this the case even if there technically are 2 parties i.e. 2 legal entities. Both parties have agreed. One individual just happens to have the legal authority to bind both.

I sign contracts all the time
There's no way that we could be bound by a contract that was signed by both parties to the agreement

Sure, one party might sign the contract before the other (since we sign most contracts at distance) but the other party would have to sign as well

barneystinson

Blacknight wrote: »

I sign contracts all the time
There's no way that we could be bound by a contract that was signed by both parties to the agreement

Sure, one party might sign the contract before the other (since we sign most contracts at distance) but the other party would have to sign as well

I'm not sure you're getting what the OP is asking... Lets say you, Black Night are selling/buying something to/from your Limited company Blacknight Ltd of which you are a director. You sign as yourself, and you sign separately as the director of the company. Nothing wrong with that.

pedroeibar1

barneystinson wrote: »

Nothing wrong with that.

Not quite. For example, it can be very wrong if there are other shareholders in the company. In any personal dealing with a company it would be advisable for one of its directors to keep it as far as possible at arms length.

pedroeibar1

El Camino wrote: »

Can one person sign a contract as a representative of both parties to the contract i.e. if the same person has authority to bind both parties can they be the only signatory therein? IS this permissible or must 2 separate individuals always sign?

I suspect that it could be done if person A signed for himself and if person B executed a power of attorney in favour of A to sign on his behalf. Technically A is signing for A, and it just happens that the person signing on behalf of B happens to be A. Not an ideal situation and you would be best getting legal advice.

El Camino

Thanks guys