Signature

[Aladdin's]

I'm actually wondering , the importance of the signature .

 

Do I need to have a fancy signature so that it's hard for others to make the same !

 

Can my signature be my name ?!

 

Thanks in advance.

[Incendia]

Your signature can be whatever you want.

 

Though fancy signatures do seem to be some sort of forum tradition. [On most forums...not just this one.]

Edited November 16, 2010 by ProcuratorIncendia

[Aladdin's]

Thanks for the reply ,

 

Sorry for bieng unclear , what I meant was the real world signature.

 

Like : Signing contracts ....etc

 

 

 

 

[ewmon]

It only make sense that your signature is some recognizable "depiction" of your name and something that you can be proud of. I've heard that European companies tend to ask for a sample of handwriting for personality analysis from prospective employees. IS this still true? American companies do not do this, but IMO, Americans think the appearance of your signature on your job application says something about yourself.

 

Regarding forgery, the more continuous the flow of lines without the pen leaving the paper, the more difficult it is to forge. Breaks in a signature allow forgers to stop, compare their work with the original signature, and continue on. IIRC, some public people may have two signatures: one for serious documents and one for public letters, autographs etc.

 

IMO, truly important signatures (checks, contracts, mortgages, promissory notes (IOUs), wills (holographic or not), pre-nuptials, etc) should be understandable ... that someone reading it will know the person's name, and that a bunch of squiggles and slashes are easy to forge.

 

IMO, know your pens for serious stuff: never use erasable ink, and use a fine-tip felt pen or a gel pen instead of a regular ballpoint, so that the ink actually soaks into the paper (important when it comes to the payee and the amount written on a check).

 

Frank Abagnale of "Catch Me If You Can" fame turned from a life of crime to an equally world-famous career as professional security advisor. Here's what he says about check fraud and identity theft.

[imatfaal]

It only make sense that your signature is some recognizable "depiction" of your name and something that you can be proud of. I've heard that European companies tend to ask for a sample of handwriting for personality analysis from prospective employees. IS this still true? American companies do not do this, but IMO, Americans think the appearance of your signature on your job application says something about yourself.

 

Regarding forgery, the more continuous the flow of lines without the pen leaving the paper, the more difficult it is to forge. Breaks in a signature allow forgers to stop, compare their work with the original signature, and continue on. IIRC, some public people may have two signatures: one for serious documents and one for public letters, autographs etc.

 

IMO, truly important signatures (checks, contracts, mortgages, promissory notes (IOUs), wills (holographic or not), pre-nuptials, etc) should be understandable ... that someone reading it will know the person's name, and that a bunch of squiggles and slashes are easy to forge.

 

IMO, know your pens for serious stuff: never use erasable ink, and use a fine-tip felt pen or a gel pen instead of a regular ballpoint, so that the ink actually soaks into the paper (important when it comes to the payee and the amount written on a check).

 

Frank Abagnale of "Catch Me If You Can" fame turned from a life of crime to an equally world-famous career as professional security advisor. Here's what he says about check fraud and identity theft.

 

 

Ewmon - you're correct that some companies will ask for handwriting, I was, but then my company is basically American so your second point is not quite right. Whilst agreeing that the more continuous and flowing the signature is, the harder to forge; it is by no means the case that the signature must be readable. All important documents will have a signature block which will contain name, (position), date, and signature - the really important ones have witness sections as well. There is no way you could work out my surname from my signature, yet it is acceptable for setting up of trusts and companies, signing of contracts, and confirmations of transfers. I know of a few individuals for whom it was impossible to tell which alphabet they using in their signature - let alone what it said.

 

To the OP - people shouldn't judge you on things like your signature, but it is human nature to do so. It is not necessary to be fancy, nor flamboyant but it should be consistent, fairly complex, and second nature to you.

 

And final point - if you think your signature is going to be forged - then do something about it! fancy curvy signatures in real ink pens are no protection - take precautions, understand the circumstances that your bank, company, lawyers etc will accept instructions under a plain signature and change them!

Edited November 17, 2010 by imatfaal

[Incendia]

Your real life signature has to be your name...

[imatfaal]

Your real life signature has to be your name...

 

 

who is gonna check and how? It's a scribble on a piece of paper that you confirm is yours and by which you affirm your agreement to the preceding, famously it could be just a mark or cross. As an example - my father's signature was the forename he used followed by a squiggle; this forename was a nickname that he acquired in the air force and never changed - it had no 'legal' connexion with him whatsoever. As a second example; I receive a huge amount of correspondence with the company name "signed" at the bottom - lots of law firms adopt this procedure

 

 

[Incendia]

That's not really the point...The idea is that it should be your name...

[imatfaal]

- the famous (is/ought) problem = should be/ has to be . The point is that you agree to be bound by the document upon which you have appended it; and that the signature is personal to you.

[ewmon]

That's not really the point...The idea is that it should be your name...

I agree in that, in real life, if someone's legal name is Robert Jones, he'd have really serious problems trying to sign everything "Mary Smith" even if his license carried the Mary Smith signature. I did, interesting enough, come across a woman who legally changed her entire name to just one word — "Scout", so she probably has an interesting time with bills, banks, credit cards, insurance companies, city hall, etc.

 

During one period in my life, my signature was my first initial followed by my last name in one continuous scripting, and people were always carding me and it got to be a real pain in the neck. So, yeah, someone could theoretically sign their signature any way they wanted, but in real life, anything out of the ordinary might cause a lot of problems.

[Aladdin's]

Thanks guys , you actually gave me some serious informations related to the way of signing .

 

What I'm actually thinking is to come up with two signatures as mentioned above , that will be much more safer.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Skeptic]

Thanks guys , you actually gave me some serious informations related to the way of signing .

 

What I'm actually thinking is to come up with two signatures as mentioned above , that will be much more safer.

 

Just keep in mind that you need to be very proficient with both your signatures if you choose that option. Otherwise, the signature you use less will be more susceptible to forgery since it is inconsistent which would give more leeway for sloppier forgeries.

[John Cuthber]

That's not really the point...The idea is that it should be your name...

No, the point might be that it identifies you.

For example

 

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Culture/Question827738.html

 

The important thing is that it's consistent.