What counts as signer intent

01 · Show the document first

Show the document first

The person should see the PDF they are asked to sign. A summary in an email is not the document. If the important terms are only in a conversation, they are not in the file the hash will later name.

02 · Use a deliberate act

Use a deliberate act

Placing a signature in an assigned field is a deliberate act. Do not hide the signature in a pre-ticked box the person never reaches. The field should sit on the page where a reader expects a signature.

Intent is easier to explain when the person signed the same PDF that the hash still matches.

03 · Name the person

Name the person

Add each signer and give that person their own fields. A shared inbox and a shared field make attribution harder. The completion record is more useful when the invitation went to the person who was supposed to sign.

• ✓Did the signer see the final PDF?
• ✓Was the signature field assigned to that person?
• ✓Are the terms inside the file, not only in email?
• ✓Have we avoided calling the act a qualified signature?

04 · Do not overclaim the act

Do not overclaim the act

A standard signature shows that someone completed the field on that PDF. It does not, by itself, prove a government identity, a qualified certificate, or that every term is enforceable. Say that plainly if a customer asks for more than the record holds.

05 · Leave room for counsel

Leave room for counsel

If the document needs a specific form of intent, such as initials on each page or a separate consent, put that in the PDF before you send it. The product will not add those words later.