Signed Before Me By Form

Use a Signed Before Me By template to make your document workflow more streamlined.

What Signed Before Me By Form means

Signed Before Me By Form is a document that records a person’s acknowledgment or signature before the named recipient, witness, or authority identified in the form. Because the title does not identify a single federal form or issuing agency, its required fields and legal effect depend on the underlying transaction and applicable state law. With signNow, upload the PDF, confirm detected fillable fields, assign signers, send the form, and retain the completed document with its audit trail. ESIGN and UETA may support electronic signatures when intent, consent, attribution, and record retention are established.

Real estate teams

Real estate teams use this form for lease agreements, rental applications, and related acknowledgments when parties need a documented signing sequence without exchanging paper copies.

Business departments

Healthcare, legal, finance, construction, and human resources teams use it for consent forms, contracts, NDAs, invoices, and internal approvals, subject to applicable state and industry rules.

Why teams look for DocuSign alternatives

Organizations seek alternatives when they need different pricing models, stronger native automation, simpler bulk affidavit workflows, or more flexible identity-verification options than those available in a legacy envelope-based vendor.

Use the signNow web app when preparing the PDF, checking detected fields, assigning recipients, and reviewing the final signing order on a larger screen.
Use the signNow mobile app when signing or sending the form from a phone, including field completion during a field visit or off-site appointment.
Choose kiosk mode for supervised, in-person completion on one device, while confirming whether the transaction separately requires a notary or witnesses.
Generate a shareable signing link when many recipients need the same form, then control access and preserve each completed document’s audit trail.

Complete Signed Before Me By Form

Use this sequence to prepare the exact PDF, route it to the required people, and preserve evidence of completion.

Upload form:
Upload the Signed Before Me By Form PDF to signNow.
Check fields:
Let signNow detect fields, then verify each required field.
Assign recipients:
Assign signers and set the signing order.
Send form:
Send the form and monitor completion status.
Store record:
Download the signed document with its audit trail.

be ready to get more

Get legally-binding signatures now!

Start free trial

Request a call

Best ROI. Our customers achieve an average 7x ROI within the first six months.
Scales with your use cases. From SMBs to mid-market, airSlate SignNow delivers results for businesses of all sizes.
Intuitive UI and API. Sign and send documents from your apps in minutes.

Authenticate signer:

Records signer authentication method and completed access event.

Capture timestamps:

Captures signing time and relevant transaction timestamps.

Hash document:

Associates the completed document with its signing event.

Seal record:

Creates evidence of later document alteration.

Record actions:

Logs fields, recipients, actions, and completion status.

Export evidence:

Allows completed documents and audit trails to be retrieved or exported.

Platform requirements for signing

Complete Signed Before Me By Form in supported Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge browsers on Windows or macOS. signNow also provides mobile apps for iOS and Android, allowing recipients to review and sign on supported mobile devices.

Browsers Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
Operating systems Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Apps signNow web and mobile apps

Organizations should manage access through approved devices and account controls. Enterprise deployments may use API access, SSO provisioning, and managed permissions. Confirm that the selected authentication, retention, and any certificate requirements match the transaction’s state and industry obligations.

Security for signed records

Data at rest:

AES-256 encryption

Data in transit:

TLS 1.2/1.3 encryption

Service controls:

SOC 2 Type II certification

Security management:

ISO 27001 certification

Health information:

HIPAA compliance with BAA

Signer verification:

Two-factor authentication

Record-keeping practices for signed forms

Preserve the document, signer evidence, and governing legal context together so the completed record remains understandable and usable.

Retain the completed form and audit trail

Use the audit trail as part of the retained record. Export or retrieve it with the completed Signed Before Me By Form so signer identity, timestamps, and actions remain available during review or dispute.

Map retention to the underlying transaction

Apply the record’s governing retention rule rather than selecting an arbitrary platform period. For federal tax records, begin with three years from filing under IRC §6501(a), then assess longer statutory periods.

Restrict access before sending

Limit access to people who prepare, send, review, or archive Signed Before Me By Form. Use role-based permissions and verify recipient addresses before exposing personal or confidential information.

Check state and transaction requirements

Confirm whether the transaction requires notarization, witnesses, consumer consent disclosures, or paper delivery. ESIGN and UETA support qualifying electronic signatures but do not remove statutory exclusions or state-law formalities.

Retention periods for signed records

Retention depends on the record’s purpose and industry. Apply the governing federal rule, preserve the audit trail, and check longer state requirements.

Three years from filing

Apply IRC §6501(a) to federal tax records; longer periods apply for substantial understatement, fraud, or no return.

Three years after hire

Keep employment records under 8 CFR §274a.2(b)(2)(i)(A), using the later applicable date.

Six years from creation

Retain HIPAA-covered records under 45 CFR §164.530(j), measured from creation or last effective date.

Six years for brokerage records

Retain broker-dealer books and records under 17 CFR §240.17a-4, including applicable accessibility requirements.

Thirty years for exposure records

Retain OSHA exposure records under 29 CFR §1910.1020 for the required occupational-health period.

State-law limits and exclusions

State notary rule

Notarization required

Wills and codicils

May be excluded

Official court orders

Court filing rules

Real-estate deeds

Deed acknowledgment

Family law documents

Witness requirements

Privacy controls for signed forms

Personal identifiers remain visible when completed PDFs are emailed broadly instead of shared through controlled recipient access.
Missing ESIGN consumer consent disclosures can weaken the electronic-record process for consumer-facing Signed Before Me By Form transactions.
Unrestricted template permissions may let unauthorized users alter signature fields or recipient roles before sending.
A signed copy without its audit trail can make signer attribution and event timing harder to establish during a dispute.

Integrations for signed form workflows

Connect Signed Before Me By Form workflows with CRM, ERP, cloud storage, and project systems when records must move between preparation, signing, and archival.

Signed Before Me By Form troubleshooting

These answers address signature validity, plan limits, privacy obligations, and record handling for Signed Before Me By Form.

Upload the document as a readable PDF, then use signNow’s field detection and manually confirm every signature, date, and acknowledgment field before sending. Business includes templates and audit trails; field placement does not establish notarization or satisfy a state-law witness requirement.

A typed, drawn, or uploaded signature can evidence intent under ESIGN and UETA when the signer consents and attribution is documented. If the form requires notarization, use an authorized notary workflow; an ordinary signNow signature does not replace notarization.

Business is $8 per user monthly with annual billing and includes 100 signature invites per user annually. Business Premium is $15 and adds bulk send; overage fees can apply, so review invite usage before sending batches.

Consumer-facing records require ESIGN consent disclosures, access to the electronic record, and a withdrawal process under 15 U.S.C. §7001(c). Add those disclosures before requesting a signature when this form is used with consumers.

For health information, signNow identifies HIPAA compliance as requiring a business associate agreement. Confirm that the workflow, recipients, permissions, and retention policy cover the specific protected health information involved.

A completed document and its audit trail should be retained according to the underlying record’s rule, not a universal signNow period. For tax records, apply IRC §6501(a) and any longer period required by the transaction or state law.

28M+Documents signed

13+Years in business

4.6/5Average G2 rating

BE READY TO GET MORE

Get this form now!

If you believe that this page should be taken down, please follow our DMCA take-down process.