Which states have adopted UETA?

Forty nine states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have adopted UETA. New York has not. It has its own Electronic Signatures and Records Act, known as ESRA, which also recognizes electronic signatures.

Does the ESIGN Act require a specific technology?

No. The law is technology neutral. It defines an electronic signature as an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a record and adopted by a person with the intent to sign. A typed name, a drawn signature and a click on a Sign button can all qualify.

Which documents are excluded from the ESIGN Act?

Section 7003 excludes wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, adoption, divorce and other family law matters, most of the Uniform Commercial Code, court orders and official court documents, and a list of notices such as utility cancellation, foreclosure or eviction from a primary residence, cancellation of health or life insurance and product recalls.

What are the consumer consent rules under ESIGN?

When a law requires information to be given to a consumer in writing, section 7001(c) allows an electronic record only if the consumer has received a clear statement of their rights, has consented, and has shown that they can access the electronic form. Business to business agreements are not subject to this consumer disclosure step.

Does SignElectronically meet ESIGN Act and UETA requirements?

The signing flow is built around the four statutory points. It records an explicit Sign action, a separate consent to electronic records, the email, IP address and browser of each signer, and it delivers a sealed PDF with an audit certificate to every party. Whether a particular document may be signed electronically is a question for your counsel.

US law

ESIGN Act and UETA Explained for Business Teams

The ESIGN Act and UETA are the two US laws that give electronic signatures the same legal effect as handwritten ones. A contract cannot be denied validity only because it was signed electronically, provided four requirements are met.

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The two laws

A federal act and a uniform state law

The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, known as the ESIGN Act, was signed on June 30, 2000 and took effect on October 1, 2000. It is codified at 15 U.S.C. 7001 and the sections that follow, and it applies to transactions in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.

The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, UETA, was approved by the Uniform Law Commission in 1999. It has been adopted by 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. New York relies on its own Electronic Signatures and Records Act (ESRA).

Both laws rest on the same rule. A signature, contract or record may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.

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Definition

Electronic signature: An electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.

Source, 15 U.S.C. 7006(5). UETA section 2(8) uses almost the same words.

ESIGN Act compared with UETA
Point	ESIGN Act	UETA
Type of law	Federal statute	Uniform state law, enacted state by state
Year	2000	1999
Where it applies	Interstate and foreign commerce across the United States	49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
Citation	15 U.S.C. 7001 to 7031	The statute of each adopting state
Core rule	No denial of legal effect solely because a record or signature is electronic	The same rule, in section 7
Agreement of the parties	Does not require anyone to use electronic records	Applies only when the parties agreed to transact electronically, judged from context
Consumer disclosures	Detailed consent procedure in section 7001(c)	Left to other state consumer law
Record retention	Section 7001(d), accurate and accessible for later reference	Section 12, accurate and accessible for later reference

Where a state has enacted UETA as approved by the Uniform Law Commission, section 7002 of the ESIGN Act lets that state law apply in place of the general federal rule.

Requirements

The four requirements for a valid electronic signature

ESIGN Act and UETA requirements and how the product records them
Requirement	What the law asks	What SignElectronically records
Intent to sign	The person must mean to sign, as with a pen	An explicit Sign action on a field assigned to that signer, logged with a UTC timestamp
Consent to do business electronically	The parties agree to use electronic records, with extra disclosure steps for consumers	A separate consent step before signing, stored as its own event
Attribution	The signature must be attributable to the person, shown by any reasonable means	A personal signing link per email address, IP address and browser, and a one time code on Plus and above
Record retention	The record must stay accurate and be reproducible for everyone entitled to it	A sealed PDF with the audit certificate sent to all parties and kept in your account

The certificate that carries this evidence is described on the electronic signature audit trail page, and any recipient can check a sealed file on the verify page without an account. Every plan on pricing includes both.

Exclusions

Documents the ESIGN Act does not cover

Wills, codicils and testamentary trusts
Adoption, divorce and other matters of family law
Court orders, notices and official court documents such as briefs and pleadings
Most of the Uniform Commercial Code, other than sales and leases under Articles 2 and 2A
Notices of cancellation or termination of utility services
Notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure or eviction for a primary residence
Notices of cancellation of health insurance or life insurance benefits
Product recall notices and documents that must accompany hazardous materials

These exclusions are listed in 15 U.S.C. 7003. UETA has a shorter list of its own, and other state or federal rules may still allow or require a particular form for these documents.

Ordinary business paperwork sits outside the exclusions. Sales contracts, NDAs, offer letters, statements of work, vendor agreements, purchase orders and most leases can be signed electronically.

This page is general information and not legal advice. If a document is unusual or high value, ask your counsel which form the governing law expects.

Beyond the United States

Signing with parties in other countries

European Union

The EU uses the eIDAS Regulation with three signature levels. Read the eIDAS guide for how they map to our plans.

Is it binding

For the short answer by document type and region, see is an electronic signature legally binding.

Technical measures

Sealing, hashing and access control are described on the security page, without certificates we do not hold.

Questions

ESIGN Act and UETA FAQ

The ESIGN Act is a federal statute from 2000 that covers transactions in interstate and foreign commerce. UETA is a model state law from 1999 that each state adopts on its own. They say nearly the same thing, and where a state has adopted UETA as written, that state law governs in place of the general ESIGN rule.

Sign a PDF and read the certificate

Use the demo on the homepage to sign one document and see the consent step, the audit trail and the seal.