Can a witness to a contract be a party to the same contract

[dyingdetective]

I am wondering if a witness to a contract can also be a party to the same contract. This question is important to me since me and my wife was taken to court as "trading in partnership"
I signed the contract as the contractor with the customer.My wife signed as a witness. However the customer made a case against both of us as my wife had signed invoices to him when he (the customer) paid money to me. Answers based on case law and not personal opinions will be greatly appreciated. Any case law references will be helpful too Thanks

[des8]

Where the signatures to a contract need to be witnessed, a party to the contract should not witness his or her own signature, nor the signature of any other party to the contract.
There is no statutory requirement of independence for a witness but this is best practice. If a deed is later questioned in court, it will not be helpful if the witness testimony is called into question by virtue of their relationship to a signing party.
Howeverin most cases English law does not require signatures to be witnessed for the execution of the contract to be valid.
The exceptions are mainly covered these laws:
Wills Act 1953 for wills
Alienation of Land Act 1981 for contracts for the sale of immovable property
Bills of Exchange Act 1964 for bills of exchange

I doubt you will find any case law.

[dyingdetective]

Thanks for the Quick reply. But as I am a litigant in person, I'm hoping to find information that I can use in Court to make and strengthen my defense

[des8]

You might receive more help from others if you could post up anonymous brief details of the matters giving rise to the claim, the claim itself and your proposed defence

[dyingdetective]

The matter is as follows. I was invited to a customers home in order to agree on a final price for a large construction job.Me, my wife and my two children went to the customers home.After some negotiation, me and the customer agreed on a final price.I was presented with a contract by a contract administrator. But I asked that my wife name be signed on the contract instead of myself since I was not legal to work in the UK at that time. (A fact they were not aware of at that time,) The contract administrator declined to do so as he thought I was trying to absolve myself of the contracts obligations.
I signed the contract,as the Contractor.And my wife and children signed as witnesses to the same contract.
Coming to the end of the project, after myself and the customer became very good friends, I decided to tell the customer about my legal situation and asked him for help with my application to the Home Office.Since he was a solicitor and worked in a legal firm that deals with immigration matters.
It turned out I did not need his help and so I applied without his help.
I told him I will be working less hours because the job was almost to an end and also I will not want to be caught working while my application is being decided.He agreed to that arrangement
After that he asked about whether I can get insurance on his property.He suggested that I put the contract on my wife's name.But my wife declined to do that.
Not long after that he sent notice of intention to take me and my wife to Court,
Claiming large sums.
His case, with the backing of the contract administrator was that
Me and my wife traded in partnership.Stating that I did the work and she signed invoices.

(At trial) my defence was that the contract was signed between myself and the customer only.
That Lord Hoffman states in his ruling that at the time of signing the contract it is necessary to revisit the situation and see who the party intended to be parties to the contract.
a) My witness statement.
b) The testimony of the contract administrator stating that I asked my wife name to be on the contract but that request was refused
c)The messages from the customer asking for the names of the contract to be changed to my wife's name
d) The signatures on the contract itself and my wife's witness statement all should have set my wife free from being a party to the contract.
However the judge said that he was not convinced by my argument.( not that he listened to much of it)
The up side to all this is that the customer refused to give me the document that had my wife's signature as a witness and so I raised the point of appealing on the case of Ladd v Marshall 1954 (and perhaps Livesey v Jenkins 1985.)
So the question that arise is...Can a person who signed a contract as a witness, still be a party to that contract.
Opinions are great. But I got a lot of that already.What I really need is citation and examples of court cases.

[charitynjw]

Any help?

A party to the deed cannot witness the signature of another party to the deed (Seal v Claridge (1881) 7 QBD 516 at 519).

The relevant legislation does not prevent a signatory’s spouse, civil partner or cohabitee from acting as a witness (if they are not a party to a deed), but this is best avoided. It is also advisable that the witness be no younger than 18 or, at least, of sufficient maturity for their evidence to be relied on should it later prove necessary to verify the circumstances under which the execution took place.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ution-of-deeds

[des8]

R0b any ideas?

It looks to me that as the contract doesn't need witnessing the judge looked at the situation to see who was intended to be the contracting parties and decided your wife was a party to the contract.
As I said before I doubt you will find what you are looking for, but R0b has deeper knowledge than I

[charitynjw]

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...onal-guarentee

I tend to agree with des8

A witness 'witnesses' that the contract was indeed signed by the parties involved, & so should be independent (ie not themselves party to it.) To do so, clearly they have to be present at the signing.
How, therefore, can one be a witness &, at the same time, a party to the contract?
Sorry, just my take on it.

[dyingdetective]

charitynjw
Your response is very helpful. Thank you. I will read the case you cited straight away

[charitynjw]

Also

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...onal-guarentee

[charitynjw]

Peridot ........any thoughts, please?

[des8]

The only case law I can find relates to the signing of deeds. not contracts

[Peridot]

Hi,
I'm afraid I'm drawing a blank too same as Des8. On the face of it this appears to be a simple contract NOT a Deed. Contracts do not require a signature to be witnessed. A Deed however does and that is where the 'connection' between the signatory and the witness would be relevant.

Does this solicitor propose taking your children to Court too, if they also signed the contract? Sorry I'm not of much use on this. If I come across anything I will of course post again.