Introduction
Some legal documents, such as deeds or certain contracts, require signatures to be witnessed by an independent third party. Ledgy offers eWitness signing through the DocuSign integration, allowing you to request witnessed signatures electronically.
This article explains how to prepare signature requests with witnesses, what signers and witnesses will experience, and how to use signature anchors to control where signatures appear on documents.
Requirements:
You must connect Ledgy to your DocuSign account to use witness signing. Learn how to sign documents via DocuSign.
You need to enable eWitness in your DocuSign account connected to Ledgy
What is eWitness signing?
eWitness is a DocuSign feature that allows witnesses to verify and confirm signatures electronically. By default, eWitness does not require the witness to sign directly on the document itself, they simply confirm their details in DocuSign.
Optional witness signatures: If you need the witness to add their actual signature to the document, you can use signature anchors (explained below) to request their eSignature.
Availability: The eWitness feature depends on your DocuSign subscription plan. Check with DocuSign for availability and billing details.
How to enable witness signing
You can configure witness requirements when setting up document templates in Ledgy.
Go to Documents > Templates
Option A - from a new template
1. Click on Upload template
2. Find the Req Witness toggle next to each signatory
3. Enable the toggle for signatories who need a witness
Option B - from an existing template
1. Click on an existing template
2. Select Edit
3. Find the Req Witness toggle next to each signatory
4. Enable the toggle for signatories who need a witness
Notes:
Edits made to the Signature setting level will apply as the default for new requests. This is the best way to prepare for bulk signature requests.
Once the invitation has been sent out, it is impossible to edit the signers and the signature type on Ledgy. You can prepare a new request with the automated signature workflow and delete the original signature request and document where necessary.
What happens after sending out the signature requests
Once the Signatories have been invited, they will receive an email from DocuSign.
By opening the email invitation to DocuSign, a window will pop up where the signatory can define their witness details before they can sign the document.
What will the witness receive
The witness will receive an email invitation to sign the document; they typically are asked for their occupation and address
The availability and billing details for witness signature depends on your DocuSign subscription
Reviewing the status of the signatures
You can track the status of the signature from both signers and witnesses. The stakeholder's signature will only show as fully signed once their witness has also reviewed the document and confirmed their details on DocuSign.
E.g. in the image below, Elon Must's witness has yet to review the document.
FAQs:
How can I ask the stakeholder to sign in a certain place on the document?
When preparing the document template in Word format, you can add a text anchor.
Stakeholder: **Please Sign Here - {stakeholder.name}**.
Tip: use a light colour for the anchor text, as this will also appear on the document. To prevent the text from showing on the document, use the same colour as the document background.
Witness: **Please Sign Here - Witness of {stakeholder.name}**
Company Signatory: **Please Sign Here - Company Signatory 1**
If there is more than one Company Signatory, you can define each of their anchors through the order in which they are added on Signature Settings.
In this case, 'Parker, Peter' would be Company Signatory 1, and 'Rogers, Steve' would be Company Signatory 2.
Company Signatory Witness: **Please Sign Here - Witness of Company Signatory 1**
When the document has no text anchor, the signer can drag and drop their signature anywhere on the document.
For best formatting, we recommend inputting the anchors within a table in the Word document.
Can we define where the signers or witnesses add text fields?
Indeed, we allow placing free text anchors for signers and witnesses!
The respective anchor text for this is e.g. **Free Text for - Company Signatory 1** (sticking with the example above). Please note that signers or witnesses can place any text into free text anchors, but they are required to enter some text to complete the signing flow.
The stakeholder themselves will still have access to the other DocuSign fields such as unlimited text, checkboxes and date stamp.
How can the witness enter their address and occupation onto the document?
When enabling eWitness signatures with the DocuSign integration, the named witnesses will be prompted automatically to provide their address and occupation in a pop-up box. This data will be stored on the DocuSign document's metadata.
If the witnesses are required to write their name, address and occupation directly on the document, you can use these additional free text anchors for this specific purpose:
For the Stakeholder witness:
**Name - Witness of {stakeholder.name}**
**Address - Witness of {stakeholder.name}**
**Occupation - Witness of {stakeholder.name}**
For the Company Signatory (the first one in this case):
**Name - Witness of Company Signatory 1**
**Address - Witness of Company Signatory 1**
**Occupation - Witness of Company Signatory 1**
For best formatting, we recommend inputting the anchors in a table format and using a light colour/invisible for the anchor text.
See an example template for signing a Deed with witnesses here: