Are Electronic Signatures Valid in Florida?

Which law applies in Florida

§ 668.004 (Electronic Signature Act) sets the general rule of validity. § 668.50 is Florida’s UETA. Subsection (7) says a record or signature “may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form” and that “if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.” Subsection (9) attributes the signature to the person who made it. The federal ESIGN Act also applies to transactions in interstate commerce.

“Unless otherwise provided by law, an electronic signature may be used to sign a writing and shall have the same force and effect as a written signature.”

Florida Statutes § 668.004 · Official source

Which documents you can sign electronically

Almost every private document: business-to-business contracts, proposals and quotes, offer letters and employment agreements, NDAs, leases, school permission slips, informed consent forms, registration forms and receipts. For all of them, Florida law says an electronic signature satisfies any legal signature requirement.

What is excluded in Florida

§ 668.50(3) excludes wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, the UCC other than s. 671.107 and chapters 672 and 680, the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) and, under § 668.50(3)(c), rules relating to judicial procedure. For those documents, and for any that require a notary, a simple electronic signature is not enough.

The federal ESIGN Act (§ 7003) also does not cover family law, court documents, notices of utility shut-off, eviction or foreclosure on a primary residence, cancellation of life or health insurance, product recall notices and hazardous-materials documents. For these, check state law and any specific delivery rules.

Online notarization in Florida

Florida regulates online notarization in part II of chapter 117 (§§ 117.201-117.305), in effect since January 1, 2020: the online notary verifies identity through personal knowledge or a government ID checked by credential analysis plus identity proofing (such as knowledge-based questions), the session takes place over live audio and video and is recorded, and the signer may be outside Florida. It is only required when the document calls for a notary (deeds, powers of attorney, affidavits); private contracts are simply signed electronically.

How to prove who signed

Florida law attributes a signature to a person “if it was the act of the person,” and lets you show that “in any manner,” including the effectiveness of the security procedure used. In practice that means an audit trail: which email address or phone number the personal link was sent to, which IP address and browser opened it, the date and time of each step, and the SHA-256 hash of the document. That is what courts have asked for when an electronic signature was disputed, and it is what every document signed with MultiDocs carries. For the other states, see electronic signature laws by state.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, ask a lawyer licensed in your state.