Are electronic signatures legal in Louisiana?

What Louisiana's act says

Louisiana enacted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act in 2001 (Acts 2001, No. 244), effective July 1, 2001, at La. R.S. 9:2601 to 9:2620. It applies to electronic records and signatures created, sent or stored on or after that date (R.S. 9:2604(A)).

Section 2607 also says a record, signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic. Section 2604(B) adds a safety valve: the Legislature meant the chapter to be a true enactment of the uniform act, and if a court finds any part inconsistent with the federal ESIGN Act's rules for that (15 U.S.C. § 7002(a)(1)), that part is meant to qualify under ESIGN's alternative test instead.

A long exclusion list

The federal ESIGN Act has its own list of notice exceptions (15 U.S.C. § 7003(b)). Louisiana wrote that list, plus a state item, into its own act. R.S. 9:2603(B) says the chapter doesn't apply to:

• Wills, codicils and testamentary trusts.
• Transactions governed by Title 10 of the Revised Statutes, Louisiana's commercial laws.
• Notices cancelling or terminating utility service, including water, heat and power.
• Notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure, eviction or the right to cure, under a credit agreement secured by, or a rental agreement for, someone's primary residence.
• Notices cancelling or terminating health insurance or benefits, or life insurance benefits (annuities aside).
• Notices of a product recall or a material failure that risks health or safety.
• Documents required to accompany the transport or handling of hazardous materials, pesticides or other dangerous materials.
• Publications the law requires in the official journals under Title 43.

If you're a landlord, lender or utility, send those notices the way the law behind them requires. A record on that list can still fall under the act to the extent a different law governs it (R.S. 9:2603(C)).

Agreement and copies

The act applies only between parties who have each agreed to deal electronically, judged from context and conduct (R.S. 9:2605(B)). Agreeing once doesn't bind anyone to the next deal: a party can decline to do it electronically, and can't sign that right away (R.S. 9:2605(C)). When a law requires information in writing, give the recipient an electronic record they can print and store (R.S. 9:2608).

Remote online notarization has limits

If a law requires notarization, the notary's electronic signature with the required information satisfies it (R.S. 9:2611). Louisiana's Remote Online Notarization Act, R.S. 35:621 and following, lets notaries authorized by the secretary of state notarize remotely (R.S. 35:625.1, effective February 1, 2022). But R.S. 35:623 sets firm limits:

• Testaments and codicils, trust instruments, donations inter vivos, matrimonial agreements, and acts modifying, waiving or ending final spousal support can't be done by remote online notarization, and neither can acknowledgments of trusts, matrimonial agreements or those support acts.
• A remote online notarization can't create an authentic act under Civil Code Article 1833, though the act may still be valid as an act under private signature or an acknowledged act.

See remote online notarization. SignMaster doesn't notarize documents. For how Louisiana's act and the federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001) fit together, read our guide to e-signature law.

Practical notes

Get each party's agreement to sign electronically, keep notices separate from your e-signed contracts, and store the final version so it stays accurate and accessible (R.S. 9:2612). In SignMaster, every signer agrees to sign electronically before signing, and that consent is saved with the disclosure version they saw. The finished PDF, which signers can download, closes with a certificate of completion that timestamps each step.