Exchanging contracts when DH is away and hasn't signed it yet, possible?

[NotMostPeople]

We are hoping to exchange contracts on our sale in the next ten days but DH has just found out that he has to work abroad. He's also away this week, back on Friday night and will then fly on Monday. I emailed our solicitor yesterday to say I could pop over today to get the contract so that we could both sign it over the weekend, but haven't heard anything back. Am I right in saying that this is going to hold things up? We could of course fax/email next week but I don't know if this is legally binding.

no, get DH to sign it before he goes away again and let the solicitor hold onto it.

We had this issue when we bought our house. DH was in the Middle East. I can't honestly remember exactly what happened, but it wasn't straightforward. Get the paperwork ready for him to sign before he goes. Explain all to your solicitor. Faxes and emails don't work.

Chased the solicitor, why he didn't answer yesterday's email I don't know and he said it will be fine to do via email next week. I hate how you have to do all the running around.

yes, that's how it is. Remember that emails and texts aren't always delivered reliably. Trust only phone calls.

Can your DH grant a power of attorney to his solicitor before he goes? The solicitor could then sign on his behalf.