Electronic signatures — ESIGN and UETA
What makes an electronic signature hold up
Federal law has treated an electronic signature as a real signature since 2000. The part people get wrong is not whether it counts — it is whether you can still prove, years later, who signed, what they saw, and that nothing changed afterward.
In the United States, an electronic signature is generally as valid as an ink one. The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. §7001) and the state-level Uniform Electronic Transactions Act say a record or signature cannot be denied legal effect just because it is electronic. What still has to be proven is the ordinary stuff: the signer meant to sign, they agreed to do it electronically, the signature is tied to that exact document, and the record can still be read later.
What the law generally requires
Four things come up again and again, in ESIGN and in nearly every state's version of UETA.
Intent to sign. The person meant their action — typing a name, drawing it, clicking a clearly labeled button — to be their signature. A stray click on an unlabeled box is a weak record.
Consent to do business electronically. Both sides agreed to use electronic records. For agreements with consumers, ESIGN §7001(c) adds specific disclosures before that consent counts, including telling the consumer they can get a paper copy and how to withdraw consent.
Association with the record. The signature has to be logically attached to the document that was actually signed — not to a different version of it.
Retention and accessibility. ESIGN §7001(d) says an electronic record satisfies a keep-a-copy requirement only if it accurately reflects the information and stays accessible to everyone entitled to it, in a form that can be reproduced later.
There are carve-outs. ESIGN §7003 lists documents it does not cover, including wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, most of the Uniform Commercial Code, court filings and orders, and certain notices such as cancellation of utility service, foreclosure or eviction of a primary residence, and cancellation of health or life insurance benefits. Those still follow their own rules.
ESIGN and UETA — two laws, mostly the same answer
UETA is a model law written by the Uniform Law Commission in 1999 and adopted, in some form, by the large majority of states. ESIGN is the federal statute passed in 2000. Where a state has adopted UETA in a way that is consistent with it, ESIGN largely steps back and lets state law govern.
Practical effect for most businesses: the answer is the same either way. The differences that matter are at the edges — consumer disclosures, specific document types a state singles out, and the handful of states that wrote their own electronic-records statute instead of adopting UETA verbatim. New York is the well-known example, with its Electronic Signatures and Records Act rather than UETA.
Florida adopted UETA at Fla. Stat. §668.50, which is why Florida contracts, lien waivers and disclosures can generally be signed electronically unless a specific statute says otherwise.
What most agreements include
An electronic-signature clause saying the parties agree to sign electronically and that an electronic copy counts as an original.
A counterparts clause, so separate signed copies together make one agreement.
A notices clause that says where email or portal notices are sent, and when they count as delivered.
Names and titles under each signature, so it is clear the signer had authority to bind the company.
One paragraph on Europe
If a signer is in the European Union, the governing rule is Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, known as eIDAS. It recognizes three levels: a simple electronic signature, an advanced electronic signature, and a qualified electronic signature. Only the qualified level — created with a certificate issued by a qualified trust service provider on the EU trusted list — gets the automatic legal equivalence to a handwritten signature. The other two are not invalid; they simply have to be proven like any other evidence. XOsign is not a qualified trust service provider and does not issue qualified electronic signatures. If a contract has to be signed at the qualified level, that is a conversation to have before you send it.
What XOsign does about it
- Records the signer's consent to sign electronically as part of the signing flow, and keeps it with the document.
- Writes an append-only audit trail — who opened the document, when, and what they did — that travels with the record.
- Fingerprints the completed PDF with SHA-256 and attaches an RFC 3161 trusted timestamp from an independent authority, so the file can be checked without trusting XOsign.
- Keeps the original you uploaded alongside the signed version, so the signed record is anchored to the document that was actually shown.
- Lets anyone verify a copy at /verify by dropping in the file or pasting its fingerprint.
What to ask an attorney
- Does my state have anything unusual in its electronic-records law that applies to my documents?
- Do any of my agreements fall inside the ESIGN §7003 carve-outs?
- If I sign with consumers, do my disclosures meet the ESIGN §7001(c) consent requirements?
- How long do I need to keep signed records in my industry, and in what form?
Frequently asked questions
Is a typed name a real signature?
Generally yes, if the person intended it as their signature and it is attached to the document they saw. What decides a dispute is rarely the look of the signature — it is the record showing intent, consent and association.
Do both sides have to use the same software?
No. Nothing in ESIGN or UETA requires a particular platform. What matters is the evidence you can produce later.
Can an electronic signature be challenged?
Any signature can be challenged, on paper or on screen. The usual challenge is 'that wasn't me' or 'that's not what I signed', which is exactly what an audit trail, a document fingerprint and a preserved original are for.
XOsign is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. It explains, in plain English, what the law generally requires so you can have a better conversation with your own attorney. Laws differ by state and change over time, and only a licensed attorney who knows your situation can tell you what to do about yours.
See what a signed record actually contains
Open the sample document, sign it, and look at the audit trail, the fingerprint and the timestamp that come out the other side.