Security
Reassigning a signature: what happens when someone passes their turn on
Reassigning lets a recipient hand their turn to a colleague, with a reason. Their fields move to the new person, the sender is told, and the audit trail keeps both names, the time and the reason forever.
On the recipients step of Request Signatures there is a tick box: "Allow reassigning".
Why it exists
You send a supplier contract to the address you have on file. It reaches Daniel, who left the purchasing team six months ago. The right person is Priya.
Without reassigning, Daniel has three bad options: sign something that is not his to sign, forward his personal link to Priya, which wrecks the record, because everything Priya does will appear under Daniel's name, or simply do nothing while you wonder why there is no reply.
Reassigning gives him a fourth option that is actually correct.
What the person has to do
They cannot pass it on silently. The form asks for:
- the name of the person they are passing it to,
- their email address,
- and a reason, which is required: *"Say why you are passing this on. The sender will see it."*
The address has to be a real one, and it cannot already be on the request.
What happens next
In one step:
- Their own entry is marked as reassigned and can no longer act.
- A new recipient is created at the same position in the order, with the same role.
- Every field placed for them moves to the new person. Nothing to redo, nothing lost.
- If anyone was set to witness the person who left, they now witness the replacement.
- The new person is emailed their own private link.
- You are told, by email, who passed it on, to whom, and why.
The everyday version
A letter arrives at the office for someone who has moved departments. They do not open it and answer on your behalf, and they do not throw it away. They write on the envelope *"not my area: passing to Priya in Purchasing"*, sign that note, and send it on.
Everyone can see what happened and why.
What the record keeps
This is the part that matters. The reassignment is written into the audit trail and appears on the certificate of completion:
- the person who handed over, and who they passed it to, with their email,
- when they did it,
- the reason they gave, in their own words,
- and on the new person's entry, who they took over from.
The timeline shows it in sequence with everything else. Months later nobody has to reconstruct why a different name appears on the document than the one you first sent it to. It is written down.
When someone can no longer reassign
- After they have finished. Once signed or approved, the turn is over.
- When it is not their turn yet, in a sequential request.
- During in-person signing, where the sender is hosting on their own device and the request is for the named person.
- When the request has been passed on too many times. There is a ceiling.
Should you allow it?
Yes, usually. Most real reassignments are honest corrections: a role changed, an address was out of date, someone is on leave. Blocking it does not stop the wrong person having the document; it just means your only record of what happened is a forwarded link and a name that no longer matches.
Turn it off when the person matters as much as the signature. A personal guarantee. An employment contract. A document naming a specific individual. Nobody else can sign those, so there is nothing to pass on.
What it looks like when it is off
The summary reads: *"Nobody can pass their turn to someone else."* A recipient who tries is told plainly: *"The sender has not allowed this document to be passed on to someone else."*
They can still decline with a reason, which also lands in the audit trail, so you find out either way.
Common questions
What does reassigning a signature mean?
It lets a recipient hand their turn to someone else, with a required reason. The new person takes the same position and role, and all the fields placed for the original recipient move across.
Can someone pass a document on without saying why?
No. A reason is required, the sender is emailed about it, and the reason is written into the audit trail.
What does the record keep about a reassignment?
Who handed over, who they handed to and that person's email, when it happened, the reason given, and on the new recipient's entry, who they took over from. It all appears on the certificate of completion.
Is reassigning safer than forwarding the email?
Much safer. A forwarded link means everything the second person does is recorded under the first person's name. Reassigning creates a separate recipient and keeps the handover on record.
When should I turn reassigning off?
When the individual matters as much as the signature: personal guarantees, employment contracts, anything naming a specific person who cannot delegate.
Can someone reassign after signing?
No. Once they have signed or approved, their turn is complete and cannot be passed on.