This Toolkit is a guide to Practical Law's materials relating to the execution of contracts, deeds, and estate planning documents under the laws of a US state. The resources identified in this Toolkit:

Where the parties to a transaction want to, or must, reduce their agreement to a written contract or document, the applicable execution formalities depend on the subject matter of the contract or document. For example, additional execution formalities apply to some finance, real estate, and estate planning documents.

For general information on the key legal requirements for the execution of contracts, including guidance on when a written contract or document is required and possible additional formalities that must be observed for a contract or document to be validly executed, see Practice Notes, Execution Requirements for an Enforceable Contract: Overview and Signature Requirements for an Enforceable Contract.

Generally, commercial and corporate contracts do not need to satisfy any execution requirements to be enforceable, unless the agreements are required under statute of frauds laws or the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to be in writing and signed.

Generally, finance documents do not need to satisfy any execution requirements to be enforceable, unless statute of frauds laws, the UCC, or the other state law requires them to be in writing and signed. However, applicable execution formalities may differ based on the type of document and jurisdiction. The structure and content of a signature block (such as whether to use a seal, witnesses, or notarization) is often important to ensure compliance with relevant legal requirements.

The applicable execution formalities for real estate documents differ by the type of document and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In particular, there are specific statutory requirements governing the execution of purchase and sale agreements, deeds, mortgages, leases, and easement agreements. Depending on state and local law, parties to real estate documents must observe execution formalities such as witnessing, notarization, and recording in a public registry.

The applicable execution formalities for estate planning documents differ by the type of document and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In particular, there are specific statutory requirements governing the execution of wills, trust instruments, powers of attorneys, advance health care directives and HIPAA releases.