Submitted by UCS on August 17, 2018

Electronic and Conformed Signatures with the Secretary of State

I’ve reached a point in my career where I can say “ I remember when…”. As a corporate paralegal, I remember when corporate documents such as certificates of incorporation, dissolutions, mergers and even UCC filings required an original signature. With so many technological advances made over the past twenty years we have gone from wet signatures, to scanned signatures to conformed signatures and now electronic signatures being acceptable to filing offices. Long gone are the days where all parties had to sit around a large conference room table making awkward small talk while signing documents to close a deal. We’ve reached a point where documents just need the emoji “ ” and we are ready to go.

UCS would like to share a list of all states that either accept or do not accept conformed or electronic signatures:

*Online filings only

** Remove all doc-u-sign information before submission

***Depends on filing. Most are done online. Check state for list of filings that must have paper submissions.

**** Documents that are filed and paid for with a credit card via the web page (annual reports and new domestic filings) and documents that do not require original signature in the statute (updated forms and annual reports)

About the author:

Keith Sheppard received his Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies from St. John’s University. As a corporate paralegal and manager with over two decades of experience in the legal services field, Keith has developed an awareness for how to assist lawyers and fellow paralegals with corporate filings and due diligence. Have a question or a suggestion for a blog? Contact Keith at keith.sheppard@unitedcorporate.com