The intention of the chirograph was to produce two (or more) identical written copies of a legal agreement, that could be retained by each party to the transaction, and if necessary verified at a later date through comparison with one another. Whereas Charters were typically used for titles of property and did not give each party a copy, chirographs could be used for almost any legal agreement – for example, matters of state, land transfers, repayments of loans, marriage settlements, etc.
The purpose of using chirographs was to create duplicate written records of a contract that each party could keep and potentially verify at a later time by comparing them. Unlike Charters, which were mainly used for property titles without providing copies to the parties involved, chirographs can be employed for various types of legal agreements, including state matters, land transfers, loan repayments, marriage settlements, etc.