During a split signing, multiple signers sign the same document in separate notary meetings. Documents are sent to every signer simultaneously, and they can sign with a notary in any order. Only one signer can meet with a notary at one time to ensure they are signing the most recent document.
Split signings may be intentional when signers can't or don't want to join the same meeting, but they can also happen as a result of certain circumstances, such as:
- A concurrent signing becomes a split signing when one person decides to move forward before the other signer(s) join them in the waiting room.
- Multiple signers are initially in the same meeting, but one signer drops off and cannot complete the meeting. The notary can continue the meeting with the remaining signer(s), and the signer who dropped can complete the notarization later.
Read more about other types of multiple-signer transactions here.
Signing order
Split signings may have an additional requirement where recipients must sign the document in a particular order, defined by the sender. This is called signing order.
In transactions with a signing order, documents are sent to one signer at a time in a specific order specified by the organization that created the transaction. Each person receives an invitation to sign only after the previous person in the sequence signed the document.
Here's how to set the signing order for a multiple-signer transaction.