Overview
Many agreements (such as tax documents, land registry, powers of attorney, transfers of assets, and so on) require that the recipient sign their agreement in the presence of a witness. The witness can be almost any party physically present to observe the signer's application of their signature.
Acrobat Sign provides a selectable "role" in the configuration process that inserts a "signer" recipient with an associated "witness" recipient that the signer must define.
- Before the signer can review the agreement, they must provide the witness's name and email address.
- After the signer completes their signature process, the witness receives an email requesting their attestation to the witnessing of the signature process. The witness is asked to review their name and email address before they can interact with the agreement.
- Additional fields can be assigned to the witness to capture any information your compliance requirements demand.
A "witness" is different than a "notary public."
A "witness" can be any person who is:
- of majority
- of sound mind
- an independent, non-biased person who is not a party to the agreement
- physically present at the time the signer applies their signature to the agreement
Witnesses may not be paid for the act of witnessing the signature process.
A "notary public" is typically a type of witness that is commissioned by a governing body (such as the State). The notarization process tends to be considerably more formal insofar as documenting the identity of the signer and usually requires a fee for processing.
E-notary services are also available through Acrobat Sign.
Work with your legal department to confirm if a witness or a notary is the requirement for your compliance demands.
Availability
The e-Witness role is available through different interfaces based on the enterprise service you have purchased.
Please select the version of Acrobat Sign you are using:
Manage page status
An agreement on the Manage page reflects the status of Out for Witnessing when the signature cycle is waiting for a witness to complete their attestation.
Note that recipients who are not witnesses continue to show the status appropriate for their role in the agreement (Out for signature, Out for approval, and so on).
The Activity list provides the same events of the audit report in a condensed format. The witness activities are clearly identified, but the signer's event does not include their requirement for a witness.
