diff --git a/src/contract/assembled_transaction.ts b/src/contract/assembled_transaction.ts
index 1f46824b9..1ebb74535 100644
--- a/src/contract/assembled_transaction.ts
+++ b/src/contract/assembled_transaction.ts
@@ -300,6 +300,11 @@ export class AssembledTransaction<T> {
    */
   private server: Server;
 
+  /**
+   * The signed transaction.
+   */
+  private signed?: Tx;
+
   /**
    * A list of the most important errors that various AssembledTransaction
    * methods can throw. Feel free to catch specific errors in your application
@@ -506,11 +511,9 @@ export class AssembledTransaction<T> {
   /**
    * Sign the transaction with the `wallet`, included previously. If you did
    * not previously include one, you need to include one now that at least
-   * includes the `signTransaction` method. After signing, this method will
-   * send the transaction to the network and return a `SentTransaction` that
-   * keeps track of all the attempts to fetch the transaction.
+   * includes the `signTransaction` method. 
    */
-  signAndSend = async ({
+  sign = async ({
     force = false,
     signTransaction = this.options.signTransaction,
   }: {
@@ -522,7 +525,7 @@ export class AssembledTransaction<T> {
      * You must provide this here if you did not provide one before
      */
     signTransaction?: ClientOptions["signTransaction"];
-  } = {}): Promise<SentTransaction<T>> => {
+  } = {}): Promise<void> => {
     if (!this.built) {
       throw new Error("Transaction has not yet been simulated");
     }
@@ -548,9 +551,66 @@ export class AssembledTransaction<T> {
       );
     }
 
+    const timeoutInSeconds =
+      this.options.timeoutInSeconds ?? DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
+    this.built = TransactionBuilder.cloneFrom(this.built!, {
+      fee: this.built!.fee,
+      timebounds: undefined,
+      sorobanData: this.simulationData.transactionData,
+    })
+      .setTimeout(timeoutInSeconds)
+      .build();
+
+    const signature = await signTransaction(
+      this.built.toXDR(),
+      {
+        networkPassphrase: this.options.networkPassphrase,
+      },
+    );
+
+    this.signed = TransactionBuilder.fromXDR(
+      signature,
+      this.options.networkPassphrase,
+    ) as Tx;
+  };
+
+  /**
+   * Sends the transaction to the network to return a `SentTransaction` that
+   * keeps track of all the attempts to fetch the transaction.
+   */
+  async send(){
+    if(!this.signed){
+      throw new Error("The transaction has not yet been signed. Run `sign` first.");
+    }
     const typeChecked: AssembledTransaction<T> = this;
-    const sent = await SentTransaction.init(signTransaction, typeChecked);
+    const sent = await SentTransaction.init(typeChecked, this.signed);
     return sent;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sign the transaction with the `wallet`, included previously. If you did
+   * not previously include one, you need to include one now that at least
+   * includes the `signTransaction` method. After signing, this method will
+   * send the transaction to the network and return a `SentTransaction` that
+   * keeps track of all the attempts to fetch the transaction.
+   */
+  signAndSend = async ({
+    force = false,
+    signTransaction = this.options.signTransaction,
+  }: {
+    /**
+     * If `true`, sign and send the transaction even if it is a read call
+     */
+    force?: boolean;
+    /**
+     * You must provide this here if you did not provide one before
+     */
+    signTransaction?: ClientOptions["signTransaction"];
+  } = {}): Promise<SentTransaction<T>> => {
+    if(!this.signed){
+      await this.sign({ force, signTransaction });
+    }
+    return this.send();
   };
 
   private getStorageExpiration = async () => {
diff --git a/src/contract/sent_transaction.ts b/src/contract/sent_transaction.ts
index d6f275d78..960f842f7 100644
--- a/src/contract/sent_transaction.ts
+++ b/src/contract/sent_transaction.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 /* disable max-classes rule, because extending error shouldn't count! */
 /* eslint max-classes-per-file: 0 */
-import { SorobanDataBuilder, TransactionBuilder } from "@stellar/stellar-base";
-import type { ClientOptions, MethodOptions, Tx } from "./types";
+import type { MethodOptions, Tx } from "./types";
 import { Server } from "../rpc/server"
 import { Api } from "../rpc/api"
 import { DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, withExponentialBackoff } from "./utils";
@@ -24,8 +23,6 @@ import type { AssembledTransaction } from "./assembled_transaction";
 export class SentTransaction<T> {
   public server: Server;
 
-  public signed?: Tx;
-
   /**
    * The result of calling `sendTransaction` to broadcast the transaction to the
    * network.
@@ -53,14 +50,10 @@ export class SentTransaction<T> {
   };
 
   constructor(
-    public signTransaction: ClientOptions["signTransaction"],
     public assembled: AssembledTransaction<T>,
+
+    public signed: Tx,
   ) {
-    if (!signTransaction) {
-      throw new Error(
-        "You must provide a `signTransaction` function to send a transaction",
-      );
-    }
     this.server = new Server(this.assembled.options.rpcUrl, {
       allowHttp: this.assembled.options.allowHttp ?? false,
     });
@@ -68,46 +61,21 @@ export class SentTransaction<T> {
 
   /**
    * Initialize a `SentTransaction` from an existing `AssembledTransaction` and
-   * a `signTransaction` function. This will also send the transaction to the
+   * a `signed` AssembledTransaction. This will also send the transaction to the
    * network.
    */
   static init = async <U>(
-    /** More info in {@link MethodOptions} */
-    signTransaction: ClientOptions["signTransaction"],
     /** {@link AssembledTransaction} from which this SentTransaction was initialized */
     assembled: AssembledTransaction<U>,
+    /** The signed transaction to send to the network */
+    signed: Tx,
   ): Promise<SentTransaction<U>> => {
-    const tx = new SentTransaction(signTransaction, assembled);
+    const tx = new SentTransaction(assembled, signed);
     const sent = await tx.send();
     return sent;
   };
 
   private send = async (): Promise<this> => {
-    const timeoutInSeconds =
-      this.assembled.options.timeoutInSeconds ?? DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
-    this.assembled.built = TransactionBuilder.cloneFrom(this.assembled.built!, {
-      fee: this.assembled.built!.fee,
-      timebounds: undefined,
-      sorobanData: new SorobanDataBuilder(
-        this.assembled.simulationData.transactionData.toXDR(),
-      ).build(),
-    })
-      .setTimeout(timeoutInSeconds)
-      .build();
-
-    const signature = await this.signTransaction!(
-      // `signAndSend` checks for `this.built` before calling `SentTransaction.init`
-      this.assembled.built!.toXDR(),
-      {
-        networkPassphrase: this.assembled.options.networkPassphrase,
-      },
-    );
-
-    this.signed = TransactionBuilder.fromXDR(
-      signature,
-      this.assembled.options.networkPassphrase,
-    ) as Tx;
-
     this.sendTransactionResponse = await this.server.sendTransaction(
       this.signed,
     );
@@ -124,6 +92,8 @@ export class SentTransaction<T> {
 
     const { hash } = this.sendTransactionResponse;
 
+    const timeoutInSeconds =
+      this.assembled.options.timeoutInSeconds ?? DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
     this.getTransactionResponseAll = await withExponentialBackoff(
       () => this.server.getTransaction(hash),
       (resp) => resp.status === Api.GetTransactionStatus.NOT_FOUND,