Deeds

Produced in partnership with Stuart Hatcher of Forsters LLP and Miri Stickland of Forsters LLP

Practice notes

In-house

Deeds

Produced in partnership with Stuart Hatcher of Forsters LLP and Miri Stickland of Forsters LLP

Practice notes

In-house

Under English law, legally binding agreements can be made orally, in writing or by deed.

This Practice notice considers the circumstances in which a deed is necessary or desirable and the formalities that must be complied with.

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What is a deed?
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When a deed is required
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Formalities (1): in writing
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Formalities (2): face value
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Formalities (3): execution
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Formalities (4): delivery
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Escrow
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Witnessing
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Variation
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Failure to comply with formalities and other defects

For information on the execution of deeds in various jurisdictions outside England and Wales, see Practice Note: Execution of deeds—jurisdictional guide.

We have produced a toolkit that is a comprehensive, interactive resource to help users identify and work through the concepts and common issues when executing documents, including the execution of deeds. Each section or phase includes practical guidance, precedent clauses and Q&As relevant to that section. For more information, see: Execution toolkit.

What is a deed?

Definition and purpose

A deed is a written instrument which is executed with the necessary

Stuart Hatcher

Partner, Forsters LLP

Stuart is a Partner in the Corporate team, able to advise across the full range of domestic and international corporate law issues, including M&A, venture capital, private equity and other shareholder investments, group reorganisations and the return of value to shareholders.

He has particular expertise in relation to investment and shareholder activity, regulatory change, governance, overseas expansion, restructurings, disposing of non-core assets and management incentive schemes.

Stuart's clients are wide-ranging but he is particularly known for his work with start-ups, scale-ups and fast-growth companies, with a focus on entrepreneurs, private business and mid-cap companies. Many of his clients are internationally based.

With a hands-on approach, Stuart provides his clients with a personal touch, ensuring that he fully understands their needs and is able to bring the right people from his network to help solve their problems. He works towards achieving his clients’ goals within an effective and pragmatic legal framework.

Stuart joined Forsters in 2020 following an 11-year period as a Partner at PwC Legal.

Stuart is recognised as a 'Top Recommended Lawyer' in the Spear's 2021 Corporate Lawyer Index.

Miri Stickland

Knowledge Development Lawyer, Forsters LLP

Miri joined Forsters LLP in 2012 as a Knowledge Development Lawyer, supporting the Commercial Real Estate team and the wider property-based service lines by providing high quality know how, precedents and training. Alongside this, she is involved in a variety of special projects for the wider business, including working on initiatives to complement the work of the firmwide sustainability group and leading on the implementation of the firm’s first document automation system as well as the rapid adoption of e-signatures across the business as a result of the pandemic. Miri is also a member of the cross-firm working party established in 2020 to produce a paper on using e-signatures and e-signing platforms in real estate transactions.

Prior to joining Forsters, Miri was a fee earner in the Commercial Real Estate team at Taylor Wessing LLP, specialising in real estate finance and investment work, as well as supporting corporate-led deals and restructuring/corporate recovery work. Miri spent a year seconded to New Street Solutions (NSS) during the business set-up phase. NSS was a division of Taylor Wessing, operating on an effective “start-up” basis, which offered a pioneering technology-enabled combination of data mining, contract review, active management and full legal due diligence services, predominantly specialising in corporate-led projects.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Agreement definition

What does Agreement mean?

Agreement is broadly defined under EU and UK competition law so as to include activities ranging from a legally enforceable contract between two or more parties to an informal albeit clear understanding, whether entered into in writing or verbally.

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Deeds

Produced in partnership with Stuart Hatcher of Forsters LLP and Miri Stickland of Forsters LLP