A person who signs a document is generally called a signer or, in more formal legal settings, a signatory. Those two words cover most everyday situations, but the correct term often depends on what is being signed. Contracts, wills, deeds, affidavits, loans, and checks each use their own vocabulary, and each label carries different legal consequences for the person who puts pen to paper.
Signer and Signatory: The General Terms
Signer is the broadest label. It applies to anyone who puts their name on any document, from a school permission slip to a billion-dollar acquisition. The word itself carries no legal weight.
Signatory sounds similar but leans more formal. It usually describes someone who signs an agreement alongside other people or entities and is bound by its terms. You hear it in treaty negotiations, corporate contracts, and joint ventures. A company’s CEO might be the signatory on a licensing deal, meaning that signature carries the authority to commit the company. Both words describe someone who signs, but signatory signals that the signing creates a legal obligation.
Signers of Contracts
Inside a contract, the generic labels give way to more precise ones. A party or contracting party is any person or entity that enters into a contract. If you sign a lease, you are a party to that lease. The term covers both sides of the deal and implies mutual rights and duties.
Many contracts also use obligor and obligee to distinguish who owes what. The obligor is the person required to do something, whether that means making monthly payments, delivering goods, or completing a service. The obligee is the person on the receiving end of that promise. In a car loan, the borrower is the obligor and the lender is the obligee. These terms show up most often in bonds, promissory notes, and service contracts where one side’s duty is the central feature.
Signing on Someone Else’s Behalf
Not every signer is acting for themselves. When someone signs as a representative, the terminology shifts.
Agent or Attorney-in-Fact
Under a power of attorney, the person granting signing authority is the principal, and the person authorized to sign on their behalf is the agent or attorney-in-fact. Despite the name, an attorney-in-fact does not have to be a lawyer. The proper way for an agent to sign is to make the relationship visible, something like “Jane Smith, attorney-in-fact for John Smith” or “John Smith, by Jane Smith under POA.” That formatting shows the agent is signing in a representative capacity rather than taking on a personal obligation.
Authorized Signatory
When someone signs on behalf of a corporation, LLC, or partnership, they are called an authorized signatory. This person has been formally designated, usually by a board resolution, operating agreement, or company bylaws, to bind the organization. CEOs, CFOs, and managing directors commonly hold this authority, though companies can grant limited signing authority to managers for specific transaction types, such as purchase orders below a set dollar amount.
One warning: if an officer signs a contract without clearly indicating they are acting on behalf of the business, they risk being held personally liable. The signature block has to name the entity and the signer’s title in a way that makes the representative relationship unmistakable.
Signers of Wills and Trusts
The person who creates and signs a will is a testator. You may occasionally see testatrix used for a female testator, but that term is considered antiquated. Modern legal practice uses testator regardless of gender. To create a valid will, the testator generally needs to be of legal age (eighteen in most places) and of sound mind at the time of signing.
The person who creates a trust and transfers property into it goes by several names: settlor, grantor, or trustor. These three are functionally interchangeable, with regional preferences. The settlor transfers legal title in assets to the trustee, who then manages those assets for the trust’s beneficiaries. In some arrangements, the settlor also serves as the trustee or even as a beneficiary, which is common with revocable living trusts.
Grantor pulls double duty in legal vocabulary. In trust law it means the trust creator; in property law it means the person transferring real estate. Context usually clears it up, but it trips people up.
Signers of Affidavits and Depositions
An affiant is the person who signs an affidavit, swearing under oath that the facts in the document are true and accurate. Lying in an affidavit can bring perjury charges, so the term carries real weight.
A deponent is sometimes confused with an affiant, but the two roles are distinct. A deponent gives sworn testimony during a deposition, which is an oral examination that happens outside of court as part of the discovery process in a lawsuit. Depositions produce transcripts; affidavits are written statements. Both involve sworn testimony, but the process and the label differ.
Signers of Deeds and Mortgages
In real estate, the person who signs a deed to transfer property is the grantor, and the person receiving ownership is the grantee. If you sell your house, you are the grantor on the deed. The buyer is the grantee. These terms apply whether the property is sold, gifted, or otherwise conveyed.
Mortgage documents introduce another pair. The mortgagor is the borrower, the person who pledges the property as security for a loan. The mortgagee is the lender. This catches people off guard because it feels backward. The mortgagor is the one giving the mortgage (the security interest) to the bank.
Signers of Checks and Promissory Notes
Negotiable instruments like checks and promissory notes have their own set of terms, mostly rooted in the Uniform Commercial Code.1Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. UCC 3-103 – Definitions
A maker is the person who signs a promissory note, taking on the obligation to pay. If you sign an IOU or a formal note promising to repay a loan, you are the maker.
A drawer is the person who signs a check or draft, ordering a bank to pay money to someone else. Every time you write a check, you are the drawer.
An endorser is the person who signs the back of a negotiable instrument to transfer it, cash it, or restrict its use. When you sign the back of a check made out to you before depositing it, you are the endorser.
The distinction between maker and drawer is subtle. A maker directly promises to pay. A drawer orders a third party (the bank) to pay. Different mechanisms, different terminology.
Cosigners and Guarantors
Loan agreements often involve signers beyond the primary borrower, and the label determines when that person is on the hook.
A cosigner signs alongside the borrower and shares responsibility for every payment from day one. If the borrower misses a payment, the lender can immediately pursue the cosigner. A guarantor plays more of a backstop role. A guarantor’s obligation typically kicks in only after the borrower fully defaults, not after a single missed payment. Lenders and collections agencies can go after a cosigner much more quickly than a guarantor, which makes cosigning the riskier commitment.
Witnesses and Notaries
Some documents require signatures from people who are not parties to the agreement.
A witness or attesting witness watches the primary signer execute the document and then signs to confirm they observed the signing. Wills, for example, typically require two witnesses. A subscribing witness takes this a step further. In some states, if the primary signer cannot appear before a notary, a subscribing witness who saw the signing can appear before the notary in the signer’s place to confirm the signature is genuine.
A notary public is a state-commissioned official who verifies the identity of signers and administers oaths. The notary signs and stamps the document to certify that the signer appeared in person and was properly identified. A notary is not a party to the document and has no stake in its contents. Acting as a witness and acting as a notary are distinct roles, and performing both on the same document can create a conflict of interest.
Does the Label Change for Electronic Signatures?
No. Under the federal E-SIGN Act, an electronic signature is any electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to a record and adopted by a person with the intent to sign.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7006 – Definitions A person who electronically signs a contract is still a signatory or party. A person who e-signs a promissory note is still the maker. The medium is different; the legal labels are the same.