Is an Electronic Signature Binding on a Contract in California?

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

Yes. California does not require ink. Under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, an electronic signature satisfies a law that requires a signature. It binds only the person it is attributable to, meaning it was that person's act, made with intent to sign. (Civ. Code, §§ 1633.2, subd. (h), 1633.7, 1633.9.) If someone typed your name without authority, you are generally not bound, and the party relying on the signature has to prove it was yours. Kolmogorov Law, P.C., a business litigation firm in Irvine, handles these disputes for companies and their owners.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss a contract with a disputed electronic signature.

What counts as an electronic signature

The definition is broad. An electronic signature is an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record. (Civ. Code, § 1633.2, subd. (h).) A typed name at the end of a document, a drawn signature on a tablet, an image of a signature pasted into a file, and a click through a signing service can each qualify.

Federal law points the same way. For a transaction in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a signature or contract may not be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form. (15 U.S.C. § 7001(a).)

Whether an informal email or text exchange formed a contract at all is a separate question, covered on our page about contracts made by text message or email.

Attribution: whose act was it?

A signature in your name binds you only if it is attributable to you. The statute says an electronic signature is attributable to a person if it was the act of the person. That may be shown in any manner, including by showing the efficacy of a security procedure used to determine whose signature it was. (Civ. Code, § 1633.9, subd. (a).)

A security procedure is a method for verifying that a signature is that of a specific person. The statute's examples include codes, identifying words or numbers, encryption, and callback or other acknowledgment procedures. (Civ. Code, § 1633.2, subd. (n).) A signing link sent to one email address, a passcode sent by text, and a login unique to one user are everyday versions.

Who has to prove the signature

The party that wants to enforce the contract does. In one Court of Appeal case, a company produced an agreement bearing a printed electronic signature with a date and time. The person named said he did not recall signing. The court held the company had to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the signature was his act, and it had not. Its witness never explained how the signature came to be on the document. (Ruiz v. Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 836, 843-844.)

A later decision applied the same rule to a contract signed through DocuSign. The signing service's markings on the page were not enough by themselves. The company offered no evidence of who sent the contract, how the signature was placed on it, or how the signer's identity was verified. (Fabian v. Renovate America, Inc. (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 1062, 1069-1070.)

The burden is not a heavy one, but it has to be carried with facts about the signing process.

When someone else signed in your name

Three situations come up inside a business. An assistant signed through the owner's account. A partner or officer signed without the others knowing. Or an outsider forged the signature.

The first two are questions of authority. A person who signs for a company signs as its agent, and authority can be given in advance or supplied afterward by ratification. (Civ. Code, § 2307.) Where oral authority would have been enough, a company ratifies by accepting or retaining the benefit of the act with notice of it. (Civ. Code, § 2310.) Our page on who can bind a company explains actual and ostensible authority.

Shared logins complicate the proof. If three people use one email account, a signing link sent to that address shows less about who clicked. It may still show the company signed, if whoever clicked had authority.

A true forgery is not the act of the person named, so the attribution rule is not met.

Did both sides agree to sign electronically?

The Act applies only to a transaction between parties who have each agreed to conduct it by electronic means. Whether they agreed is determined from the context and surrounding circumstances, including their conduct. (Civ. Code, § 1633.5, subd. (b).) Opening a signing request and completing it is conduct a court can weigh on that question.

The agreement is per transaction. A party that agrees to conduct one transaction electronically may refuse to conduct others that way. (Civ. Code, § 1633.5, subd. (c).)

A few kinds of transactions fall outside the Act, as our page on contracts made by text message or email explains. The writing requirements themselves are on our page about the statute of frauds.

If your company relies on the signature

Keep the record that shows how the signing happened. For a signing service, that is the completion certificate or audit log: the email address the request went to, the authentication step, the time of each action, and the network address. For a typed name in an email, keep the full message with its headers.

Evidence of a record or signature may not be excluded solely because it is in electronic form. (Civ. Code, § 1633.13.) It still has to be authenticated. In both decisions above, the missing piece was an explanation of how the signature came to be on the document.

Then add conduct. Payments made, goods accepted, and emails that refer to the signed agreement can all support attribution. Our page on proving a breach of contract explains how that record is assembled.

If your company says it never signed

Say so in writing as soon as the company learns of the document, and ask the other business for the signing record. Silence followed by months of performance can turn an unauthorized signature into a ratified contract.

Do not accept the benefits while the signature is in dispute.

Preserve the email account, the devices, and the access logs that show who could have clicked, as our page on litigation holds explains.

What to bring to the first meeting

• The contract as you received it, with any signing certificate or audit trail.
• The emails that delivered the document and any reply.
• A list of everyone with access to the email account or login used.
• Invoices, payments, and deliveries made after the signature date.
• Any written denial or demand that has been exchanged.

Frequently asked questions

Someone typed my name on a contract and emailed it. Am I bound if I never signed anything by hand?

Not unless the typed name is attributable to you. California law treats an electronic signature like ink, but only when it was your act or the act of someone with authority to sign for you, made with intent to sign. The business relying on the signature must prove that. If the contract names you or your company, deny the signature in writing promptly, and do not accept benefits under it.

My business partner signed a vendor contract through DocuSign using my email login. Is our company bound by it?

Possibly. The question in California is authority, not whose login was used. If your partner had actual or ostensible authority to commit the company, or the company later accepted the benefits knowing of the contract, the signature can bind the business. If neither is true, the vendor will have difficulty attributing the signature to the company.

Is a DocuSign contract binding in California?

Yes, when the signature can be attributed to the signer. Under California's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, an electronic signature satisfies a law that requires a signature. In a dispute, the party enforcing the contract should be ready to show how the document was sent, how the signer was verified, and when the signature was applied.

Is a typed name a legal signature in California?

It can be. California defines an electronic signature as any electronic symbol or process adopted with the intent to sign the record. A name typed in a signature block can meet that test. A name that appears automatically at the bottom of every email is weaker evidence of intent to sign a particular agreement.

Who has to prove that an electronic signature is real?

The party relying on it. California courts have held that once the named person denies or does not recall signing, the proponent must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the signature was that person's act. A signature and timestamp alone have been found insufficient. Evidence about unique credentials and the signing process is what carries the burden.

Talk to a California breach of contract attorney

If a contract dispute turns on who signed and how, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located in Irvine, California. Related reading: our breach of contract practice page and our page on contracts made by text or email.

This page provides general information about California and federal law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the contract, the signing record, and the court.