Agreement signed in counterparts

Signing in counterpart means that duplicate contracts or deeds are printed so that there is a separate copy for signing by each party. The opposite situation is where one copy of the contract or deed is printed and signed by all parties to it.

1. What is a counterpart of an agreement?
2. What does it mean to be executed in counterparts?
3. Do counterparts have to be identical?

What is a counterpart of an agreement?

Counterpart is a copy or duplicate of a legal instrument. Where an instrument, especially a contract, is signed by the parties on different copies, one of the copies is the original while the others are counterparts.

What does it mean to be executed in counterparts?

Related Content. An approach to executing a document that is intended to have legal effect between two or more parties, that involves each party signing a separate (but identical) copy of the document and then exchanging their signed document for the one that has been signed by the other party.

Do counterparts have to be identical?

Is counterparts clause compulsory? Generally, an agreement does not need to include a counterparts clause in order for it to be signed in counterparts, as long as the content of each signed version is the same.