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.

Drop your document here and sign it now. PDF, Word and Excel all work: a .docx or .xlsx is laid out in your browser exactly as it was written, so there is nothing to convert first. Add a signature, a date, a company stamp or a watermark, then download it sealed. Free to start, no account, and the file is never uploaded to open it.

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.

What PDF Verified is, and what it is not

Electronic signature law is settled in broad terms and specific in the details. The ESIGN Act, UETA, eIDAS and their equivalents recognise electronic signatures across more than 190 countries, and what decides a particular case is intent to sign plus evidence connecting the signature to the signer, which is what the audit certificate records. Certain document types carry their own formalities wherever you are: deeds, wills, some property instruments, and anything requiring a witness or a notary. Sign only what you are authorised to sign, since applying another person signature without their authority is forgery whatever tool is used.

PDF Verified is a tool for preparing, signing, stamping and checking documents. It is not a law firm, a compliance service or a forensic examiner, and nothing here is legal, financial or compliance advice. Requirements differ by country, by document type and by the party asking, so check what applies to your document before you rely on it, and take advice where the document matters. You are responsible for the documents you create, sign and send, and for having the authority to do so: signing or stamping in somebody else name, or as an organisation you do not represent, is forgery whatever tool is used. To the extent the law allows, we accept no liability for how a document made with this tool is used or relied on. The full position is in our terms of service.