What is ESIGN Act?

The U.S. federal law (15 U.S.C. § 7001) that gives electronic signatures the same legal effect as handwritten ones.

The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), enacted in 2000, makes electronic signatures legally enforceable across all 50 U.S. states for any transaction involving interstate or foreign commerce. It works alongside the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), adopted in 49 states, which covers intrastate transactions. Together they cover nearly every commercial contract.

What ESIGN requires

For an eSignature to be enforceable under ESIGN, four elements must be present: intent to sign, consent to do business electronically, association of signature with the record, and record retention. PDF Verified captures all four — an explicit "Adopt & Sign" button (intent), terms acceptance (consent), embedded signature linked to the document (association), and indefinite cloud retention with download (retention).

Exclusions

ESIGN does not apply to wills, codicils, testamentary trusts, family-law matters (divorce, adoption), most court orders, product-recall notices, utility-service termination notices, and a handful of other specific document types. For these, wet-ink (or jurisdiction-specific eSignature provisions) is required.

ESIGN vs UETA

ESIGN is federal; UETA is state. ESIGN preempts state law unless a state has adopted UETA (which most have) and not modified it in a way that's inconsistent. Practically, both grant eSignatures the same enforceability — PDF Verified documents comply with both.