Are initials of all parties required on each page of a contract?

QUESTION: I was just reading about the new Additional Signatures Addendum (form 3-T) in the most recent “Forms Guy” article in the Summer 2014 issue of Insight magazine  (electronic version available on the NCAR website here—Q&A begins on page 32). I think it’s great that we now have a standard form that will allow us to easily add additional parties to a contract when the number of parties exceeds the number of pre-printed signature blanks in the form.

Here’s what I’m wondering about. Let’s say there are four sellers who need to sign a contract. I can now identify two of them on the Offer to Purchase and Contract (form 2-T) and the  other two on the Additional Signatures Addendum. However, there are only two initial lines for sellers at the bottom of each page of the Contract. Don’t all the four sellers have to initial  each page? How am I supposed to handle that?

ANSWER: Initials aren’t required by law. They are merely some evidence that the initialed page is a part of the document being signed and that the initialing party has reviewed the  page. The placement of initials at the bottom of each page by each party to the Contract is not a condition to the effectiveness of the Contract. In other words, if the two “extra” sellers in your hypothetical case signed the Additional Signatures Addendum but didn’t initial the bottom of each page of the Contract, we do not believe that would affect the legal enforceability of the Contract.

Having said the foregoing, we do think it would be preferable for all parties to the Contract to initial each page of the Contract. This can be done by simply having the two additional  sellers initial each page manually or, if you are using an electronic signature program, by dropping a “tag” for the initials of the two additional sellers at the bottom of each page.