Signature Custody Model

Signature Custody Model asks who physically holds the executed agreement, who holds the audit trail behind it, and who can produce both on demand years later. Agencies routinely treat signing as a one-time event, then discover during a client dispute or a procurement review that the completion certificate lives inside a vendor account nobody controls. The framework splits document flow into three custody layers: capture (fields, signer identity, timestamps), storage (where the executed PDF and its certificate sit), and portability (whether the trail exports in a form a client's counsel will accept). Tools differ sharply by layer. DocuSeal lets an agency self-host capture and storage, trading maintenance hours for full custody. Dropbox Sign keeps custody in its own account but saves completed files back to connected storage. DocHub leans on Google Workspace, so custody follows the client's Drive permissions. Map all three layers before signing a retainer, not after.