Electronic expert opinion: Get it online without visiting an expert

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Sometimes in life, we find ourselves in situations where it is necessary to provide an expert’s opinion on a particular matter, or the law may require such an opinion from us. In these cases, an expert opinion (forensic/expert report) becomes part of the official documentation. Today, some experts already offer their services electronically, meaning you don’t need to visit them in person. To be able to issue expert opinions in electronic form, experts need a qualified electronic signature with a timestamp and a mandate certificate. An expert opinion signed this way has the same legal validity as a document stamped with a round seal and the expert’s handwritten signature.

In this article, we provide a brief overview of what it looks like when you order an electronically signed expert opinion and, for experts, a quick guide to the tools needed for electronic signing.

Expert opinion in electronic form

Digitalization is gradually finding its supporters across all industries, and more people appreciate its benefits. An expert opinion is a document resulting from the specialized professional activity of an expert under Act No. 382/2004 Coll. on Experts, Interpreters, and Translators, as amended. An expert can also be a legal entity or an expert institution.

You may need an expert opinion in situations such as:

• Inheritance proceedings: e.g., valuation of movable or immovable property,
• Divorce cases: division of property between spouses to ensure fair valuation,
• Auctions and foreclosures: objective determination of property value,
• Loan and mortgage applications: banks require an expert opinion on the value of real estate for every mortgage,
• Court proceedings: whenever an objective assessment and expert opinion is needed on technical, economic, medical, psychological, psychiatric, or other matters,
• Construction, accounting, business, and civil relations.

In general, an expert opinion is required whenever valid legislation demands it, or in life situations where an objective and independent opinion is needed on disputed issues and matters.

Time is a precious commodity for all of us. That’s why the ability to save time—by avoiding personal visits to an expert—is a major benefit. An electronic expert opinion can be obtained from an expert who has a qualified electronic signature and a timestamp. Additionally, they will also need a mandate certificate for electronic signing.

Process of obtaining an electronic expert opinion

1. Choose an expert who offers the option of preparing an expert opinion electronically without the need for a personal visit.
2. Send the required documents. The expert prepares the opinion, signs it with a qualified electronic signature, attaches a qualified timestamp, and delivers it to you in the required format and quality. Such an electronically signed expert opinion fully replaces the expert’s round seal and handwritten signature.

Besides saving time, in some cases, submitting or attaching an electronic expert opinion can even reduce certain administrative fees. Finally, this method is faster and more environmentally friendly.

Get a qualified electronic signature, timestamp, and mandate certificate

If you are an expert and want to offer your clients the benefits of digitalization when preparing expert opinions, you’ve come to the right place.

To sign your expert opinions electronically, you will need these three essential tools from our digital toolkit:

1. Qualified electronic signature – available on the NFQES platform
2. Qualified timestamp – also provided by NFQES. More details available here
3. Mandate certificate – easily obtained from NFQES as a certification authority with just a few clicks.

A mandate certificate from BRAIN:IT, the operator of the NFQES.com platform, brings the following practical benefits:

• Remote signing of various legal, commercial, and other professional documents,
• Use of the mandate certificate across all applications, including the Slovensko.sk portal,
• Possibility of bulk signing and fast delivery, storage, and retrieval of documents,
• Legal enforceability and non-repudiation of signed documents in everyday life and court proceedings,
• Environmentally friendly approach,
• Enhanced security.

The NFQES.com platform is a qualified trust service provider registered in the European Trust Service Providers Register, in compliance with EU Regulation No. 910/2014 (eIDAS). Contact us – we’ll be happy to explain everything and guide you through the process.