Ireland: Executing Simple Contracts and Deeds—formalities, statutory writing requirements, deeds and delivery, counterparts/virtual closings, electronic signatures, powers of attorney, company/partnership/ICAV execution, and property transactions

Published by a Lexis+ Ireland - Commercial expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note provides an overview of the law, guidance and practice on executing simple contracts and deeds in Ireland. It sets out the principal distinctions between simple contracts and deeds and the formalities for execution. It also addresses counterparts and virtual closings, electronic signatures, powers of attorney, deed of variation, Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles (IVACs) and property transactions.

Creating a contract

A contract is a legally binding agreement conferring rights and imposing obligations between two or more parties. In essence, four core requirements must be met before a contract arises:

an offer has been made
that offer has been accepted
valuable consideration is provided for performance of the contract
the parties intend to be legally bound

Contracts can be:

oral
written
a mixture of oral and written
by deed

The general rule is that writing is not required for enforceability; however, legislation prescribes writing for certain agreements. It can be difficult to enforce the terms of an oral contract...

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Web page updated on 29/05/2026

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