In Milligan v. Khodra, 46 V.I. 305, 318 (D.V.I. App. Div. 2004), the grantor of a mortgage went to the grantee's attorney's office to sign the necessary documents, and did so out of the presence of the grantee's attorney. Id. at 308. However, when the grantor received copies of the documents, they contained the signature of a purported witness and the grantee's lawyer's attestation of the signatures. Id. The Appellate Division held that "[t]he omission of such a formality is 'fatal to the validity of the instrument, even as to the parties, and such an instrument conveys nothing.' " Id. at 318.