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How to Witness an Option Grant

In this article, we will show you, step-by-step, how to witness an Option Grant on the SeedLegals platform, and explain who can be a witness for the agreement.

The Option Grant is a deed, therefore each party (company and option holder) needs to sign the agreement and have an independent witness available to witness and sign the agreement too.. The grant can be signed and witnessed individually, or in bulk using our group signature feature.

 

 

Signing and witnessing one grant at a time 

1. To get to the Option Grant, head to the share options tab on the platform and click on Option Holders. Select the relevant option holder.

 

Once you’ve selected the relevant option holder, select the document you intend to sign. 

 

2. Once you have created and read through the agreement, click the blue sign button in the top right corner of the screen. You will then be able to see your signature on the document.

3. Then click ‘share with witness’. Legally, the witness is meant to:

a) physically see the signatory sign the document

b) not be an 'interested party' to the transaction themselves (the only exception here is that two directors can sign the agreement on behalf of the company).

Not being an interested party means the witness should not benefit themselves one way or the other from the outcome of the agreement.

  • For example, an employee of your company should not be a witness for the other party, because if there's a dispute later the other party could look to exploit the fact that the witness was connected to your company and not independent.
  • For the same reason a family member shouldn't be the witness for your signature, since they're an interested party by family ties.
4. You’ll then be prompted to share this with your witness. If you’d like the witness  to sign the document using the same device as you, select “Open new tab”. Alternatively, select “Copy link” which will generate a URL to your clipboard, which you can share via your preferred mode of communication e.g. email or messaging app.   

 

Once the witness page is open (see above), the witness should then enter their details and affix their signature using their cursor. Your witness does not need to have an account with SeedLegals to be able to sign.

5. Once they have signed, they can close the tab, and their signature will automatically pull through onto the document once you refresh the page.

The option holder has to sign and have the agreement witnessed within 14 days of the company signing. Though check your agreement, as some older versions of our Option Grants have a 7 day countersign requirement.

Once the Option Grant has been signed by the relevant parties, make sure to click ‘Approve Option Grant’.