Are Electronic Signatures Valid in Illinois?

Which law applies in Illinois

Since June 25, 2021, the main law is the Illinois Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, codified at 815 ILCS 333. It was passed as Senate Bill 2176 and became Public Act 102-0038, effective immediately when the governor signed it. It applies to electronic records and signatures created, sent, received or stored on or after that date.

Like every UETA, its core rule is that 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. The federal ESIGN Act also applies to transactions in interstate commerce.

"A signature, contract, or other record relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form."

15 U.S.C. § 7001(a)(1) (ESIGN Act, applies in Illinois alongside UETA) · Official source

The old law: the Electronic Commerce Security Act

Illinois passed the Electronic Commerce Security Act (ECSA) in 1998 as Public Act 90-759, effective July 1, 1999, at 5 ILCS 175. It came before both UETA and ESIGN, and it took a different approach:

• It recognized electronic records and signatures in general: they couldn't be denied legal effect just because they were electronic.
• It created a special category, the "secure electronic signature," made with a qualified security procedure. In a civil dispute, a secure signature was presumed, subject to rebuttal, to belong to the person it correlated with.
• It had rules for digital signatures backed by certificates, and gave the Secretary of State a role in approving security procedures.

The idea was reasonable for its time, but it left Illinois out of step with the rest of the country. UETA, adopted almost everywhere else, is technology-neutral and has no tier of "secure" signatures. And ESIGN § 7002 lets a state replace ESIGN only by adopting UETA or rules that are consistent with ESIGN and don't favor a particular technology, which raised questions about how much of ECSA ESIGN overrode. We haven't found an official answer to that question, and since 2021 it no longer matters for new documents.

UETA in 2021: what changed

• One national standard. Illinois became the 49th state to adopt UETA, after Washington in 2020. New York is now the only state without it.
• ECSA repealed. The act repealed the Electronic Commerce Security Act and updated references to it across other Illinois statutes.
• No "secure signature" presumption. Under UETA § 9, a signature is attributable to a person "if it was the act of the person," which may be shown "in any manner," including the efficacy of a security procedure. You prove the signing process; there's no special presumption for one technology.
• Agreement by conduct. As in every UETA state, the law applies when the parties agreed to deal electronically, which can be shown from context and conduct (§ 5).

Documents signed electronically before June 25, 2021 were governed by ECSA (and ESIGN). If you're relying on an older e-signed contract, that's the law that applied at the time.

What you can sign electronically

Almost any private document: business contracts, quotes and purchase orders, offer letters and employment agreements, NDAs, leases and rental applications, school permission slips, waivers, consent forms and receipts.

What is excluded

Illinois's UETA follows the uniform scope: it doesn't apply to transactions governed by laws on wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, or by the Uniform Commercial Code other than Articles 2 and 2A (sales and leases of goods) and the related general provisions. We recommend checking the current text of section 3 on the General Assembly's website before relying on an exclusion, since states amend these lists.

On top of that, the federal ESIGN exclusions apply (§ 7003): family law, court documents, notices of utility shut-off, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence, cancellation of health or life insurance, product recalls and hazardous materials. Anything that requires a notary follows notary law. See which documents can't be signed electronically.

Electronic wills and notaries

Wills. Excluded from UETA, but not stuck on paper. Illinois passed the Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act (755 ILCS 6, Public Act 102-0167), effective July 26, 2021, with its own rules for electronic wills and remote witnessing. A general e-signature tool is not the way to make one: follow that act, ideally with an estate planning lawyer.

Notarization. Public Act 102-0160 (2021) amended the Illinois Notary Public Act to allow remote and electronic notarization, and the Secretary of State's implementing rules took effect on June 5, 2023. Electronic notaries need a separate electronic commission and an approved platform. MultiDocs is not a notary platform; see e-signature vs. notarization.

How to prove who signed

With ECSA's presumption gone, proof in Illinois works as in every UETA state: you show the signing process. That means an audit trail with the email address or phone number the personal link was sent to, the IP address, device and browser, the date and time of each step, and the SHA-256 fingerprint of the signed document. Every document signed with MultiDocs ends with a certificate of completion with those details. For 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.