What happens if a client signs a deed, but the solicitor then amends the document (eg inserts a revised page)? In practice, this happens a lot but the wisdom of such practices has been thrown into doubt by a recent tax case.

The case involved a High Court decision on a lawful tax avoidance scheme where the advisers inserted signed pages from earlier drafts into a revised final version. It was held that there was not a valid deed: 



‘... the common understanding is that the document to be signed exists as a discrete physical entity (whether in a single version or in a series of counter-parts) at the moment of signing.’ 



It follows that significant variations cannot be made to a deed after it has been executed (signed) by the client, but before it is delivered. If such changes are made then the deed will be void and ineffective. Needless to say, this finding has caused concern among company and property lawyers. There have been suggestions that clients must now always be provided with a full document in hard copy before signature, although that is probably too draconian an interpretation of the case. What seems clear is that you cannot simply produce a signature page independently and then bind it into a document and call it a deed, if the signature page had never been part of the whole document. What is unclear is whether minor edits are acceptable (we suspect they are, and that it is only substantive alterations that will be caught by this decision). But, good practice will always be to ensure that the client signs the final, completed, document. 



If the client is likely to be unavailable for signing, and it seems likely that there will be amendments, then the best approach is probably to get the client to grant the solicitor a power of attorney (although advisers should always take great care not to exceed the authority granted by the power).