or is an email "written confirmation"

[gilmoregirl]

I received a (very badly written) letter from the solicitors dealing with my grandfather's will.

The cheque that they sent me has not arrived. The letter states:

?We still stop the cheques provided you let us have written confirmation that we have your authority so to do.?

I emailed them clearly referring to the letter I had received from them.

They did not reply so I phoned to check they had received my email. On the phone I was told that they were currently drafting a reply to my email....

The reply states "unfortunatley your email does not do so" and states that the confirmation needs to be in writing and not by email.

I am confused by this as I consider email to be "written", is this not the case?

No, it actually needs to be signed. Anybody could draft an email.

aah so it is the signature they need. I see. That makes sense! Would have been helpful if they had asked for that clearly.

An email is written communication. If they need it to be signed, fair enough, but they need to say so.

Yep - not a lot to ask, is it?

Us lawyers lag shockingly behind. Send us a badly doctored fax ok, but an email . Less kidding, solicitors use email for correspondence but are often less keen on anything official by email.

But in my legally qualified opinion YA definitely NU to think an email would be enough.

what LRD said.

Sorry about your Grandfather :(

YANBU - Yes they need the signature but being clear about these things would make everyone's life easier. Can understand your annoyance.

Thank you.

Their letter was so badly worded it was just not clear. If it had specifed that a SIGNATURE was required that would be fine and I would immediately have sent a signed letter.

The wording just referred to "written" and in my job we would consider email to be "in writing".

I thought that as I had specifically referred to the contents of their letter in my email it would be clear I had received their letter and was giving my authority.

Is very frustratingas this is just the latest in a loooong list of delays and confusion