---
title: O.C.G.A. § 11-3-401. Signature necessary for liability on instrument.
collection: code
id: 11-3-401
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 11-3-401 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3-401
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3-401.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3-401/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t11-(v9)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=df925151_0#page=40
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3-312.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/11-3-402.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COMMERCIAL CODE / NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS / LIABILITY OF PARTIES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 11-3-401. Signature necessary for liability on instrument.

A person is not liable on an instrument unless (i) the person signed the instrument; or (ii) the person is represented by an agent or representative who signed the instrument and the signature is binding on the represented person under Code Section 11-3-402.

## History

Code 1981, § 11-3-401, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 1306, § 3; Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 5-20/HB 1240, effective July 1, 2024.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 1-1/HB 1240, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Uniform Commercial Code Modernization Act of 2024.’”

Ga. L. 2024, p. 817, § 1-2/HB 1240, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to support, endorse, create, or implement a national digital currency.”

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, deleted the subsection (a) designation and deleted subsection (b), which read: “A signature may be made (i) manually or by means of a device or machine; and (ii) by the use of any name, including a trade or assumed name or by a word, mark, or symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing.”