Key Points:
Even a seemingly informal use of the party's name
(or the name of its agent) in correspondence with the other party
can constitute a "signature" and thereby make a guarantee
enforceable.
One of the last remaining aspects from the Statute of Frauds
(1677) that still applies in most Australian jurisdictions is the
requirement that a guarantee (or a note or memorandum evidencing
the guarantee) must be in writing and be signed by or on behalf of
the guarantor in order to be enforceable.
A recent UK case demonstrates that a relatively informal
sequence of emails can satisfy the writing requirement even if the
final email in the sequence does not of itself expressly refer to
the guarantee. The case also demonstrates that the salutary
inclusion of your name in an email sent by you can constitute your
signature.
