Are electronic signatures legally binding?
For most everyday agreements, yes — an electronic signature carries legal effect. There are exceptions, and the rules depend on where you are and what you are signing. This article gives general information, not legal advice.
Updated September 15, 20264 min read
The general rule
In the United States, the ESIGN Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), adopted by most states, provide that a signature or contract cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. In the European Union, the eIDAS Regulation says the same of electronic signatures in legal proceedings, while giving qualified electronic signatures the same effect as handwritten ones.
Many other countries follow similar principles, so most sales agreements, service contracts, NDAs, offer letters and internal approvals are routinely signed electronically.
Documents that often need more
Some documents have extra formal requirements in some places.
- Wills and testamentary documents.
- Certain court filings and notarised documents.
- Some real estate transfers and deeds.
- Documents that require a qualified electronic signature or a witness under local law.
What a DocuGrip signature provides
DocuGrip provides simple electronic signatures. Each signer opens the document through a personal link sent to their email address, agrees to sign electronically, and signs. The request keeps an activity record of when the document was sent, opened and signed, and the completed PDF ends with a signing record page listing every signer and the time they signed.
It does not verify identity beyond the email link and does not issue qualified or certified signatures. If your document needs either, use a service built for that requirement.
Do it now
Frequently asked questions
Still stuck?
Write to support@docugrip.com with what you tried and what you saw. A person reads every message.