Would email be considered an "official document"?

Question

If someone requested I send a response, would email suffice?

Answer 1

Very seldom since your signature is not on the paperwork, which is required to make it "official". Even though your email address is on the email itself, anyone can use your email/computer and send something so without the signature to verify you authorized the document, it would be worthless.

And, it depends a great deal on "how" official the document needs to be. If it is just to send basic information, a company might accept it but it would be better if you faxed it over and your signature was on the paperwork, along with the date written in by your hand. Then you should send the original copy in snail mail to them so they have the original on file, keeping a copy for your own file with the date you mailed it.

Answer 2

It would depend on who is trying to prove what.

If the sender is trying to prove that the receiver got the email, that can run into some problems. It might have disappeared in spam, it might have been opened by an employee who didn't notify the person you sent it to, and you might have sent it to the wrong address. You need something that confirms receipt, like a reply.

If the receiver is trying to prove the contents of the document against the sender (like a contract), your first hurdle is the Statute of Frauds. Some agreements are not enforceable unless in a writing signed by the party to be charged, so email cannot make an enforceable contract to sell real property.

If that's not an issue, you still need to prove that the document is really from the person you say it is from. If you got a document that appears to be from the Director of the FBI confessing that they've been conducting illegal activities, and the email return address is [e-mail], the court might be a little suspicious. It might also be considered irrelevant if the case is about your overdue parking tickets.

Email is commonly enough a method of official communications for both government and business, but you do still have to prove that it's genuine to defeat the hearsay rules.

Answer 3

If the request for response came in the form of an e-mail then unless there are instructions requesting response in a different form then an e-mail would be fine. You might make a copy of the screen showing that the response email had been received and read.

If the request for response came in the form of a letter then the best way is to send a letter with a notice of delivery label attached to the envelope so you have a record of delivery.

I had the experience of sending my monthly payments to a mortgage company a week to ten days before the late date and they would claim they didn't receive it on time. When I started sending the check with a notice of delivery label then the late payments stopped and they sold my mortgage to a more honest mortgage broker.

Answer 4

Too many variables to answer correctly. If the response is just acknowledging you received something, I would say yes. I receive acknowledgements of payment received through e-mail. If it needs a signiture to be legal, no it would not suffice.

Answer 5

In what context? An email is a writen documentation just like a letter, but in some cases you may need more.

Answer 6

I send an e-mail to my higher authority about some official matter, as hard copy of it niether they accept nor reject nor give any proper answer for long time. Will it consider as official dodument for futher use.

Answer 7

the answer depends on a full set of facts from which to make such a determination.

Answer 8

A document has to be notarized to be official.

Answer 9

In most cases, no.
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