Why is writing you name more legal than your signature?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

If your name is typed below the line and you sign the line, aren't you agreeing that is your name?

[jberryhill]

1. Do you mean "legible"?

A signature is any mark you make with the intent that it be your signature, typically to act as an endorsement or agreement to the statement signed.

Many people's signatures are not legible, so it is helpful to also have a printed name to identify the person signing.

What you mean by "more legal" is a puzzle.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. They refused to accept a sginature stating that one has to write the

name as it appeares exactly as it is typed below the line.

[jobycom]

3. If they can read your signature, it has to match the name on the doc you sign

Otherwise they can't be sure that the person signing is the person listed in the doc.

If they can't read the signature, then they have to accept it, since they can't prove it isn't yours. Of course, not everyone knows this, so they might claim otherwise.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. if it is signed in front of a notary public, what difference does it make?

I am not sure you and I are talking about the same thing.

on edit:

what if your signature is legible but your handwriting is not?

[jberryhill]

6. Again... What some clerk will accept is not a guide to the law of anything.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. is a public notary a clerk?

[jberryhill]

11. Pretty much, yeah

I took all four hours of the PA notary training when I was desperate for CLE credits one year.

Depending on the instrument, some notaries develop personal fetishes about things. I can see where a notary could be concerned about what it is they are certifying if the printed name is "Bob Smith" and your ID and signature say "Jim Jones". He/she may be concerned that the singature of "Bob Smith" is being certified.

If it is something like the signature line and ID are "William Brown" and you are signing "Bill Brown", most notaries won't get upset, but some can be anal.

From a legal standpoint, any mark you make on a piece of paper intending to be your signature is your signature. From the standpoint of asking someone else to certify your signature, their objective is to avoid any potential future question about what they were swearing to.

[jberryhill]

5. Who is "They"?

Sometimes clerks at places like the DMV are specifically trained to apply certain rules, but that's no guide to the law.

My daughter is blind, and has to sign stuff all of the time. I promise you it never looks like her printed name.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. public notary

and you could not read what I had written either. I have not written my full name since grade school, iirc.

[jberryhill]

12. See above - it's a personal preference of the notary you are dealing with

"Notary public" is not exactly a learned profession. With a ten dollar stamp, a registration fee, and a one afternoon class, anyone can be a notary.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. she said it was the law.

:shrug:

whatever.

Maybe it is a state thing.

[jberryhill]

17. Notaries can, and do, say just about anything is "the law" generally /nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. that doesn't mean it is the truth. ---

I just thought it odd. Telling me how to write my name.

[Kali]

7. that sounds really weird

never heard of anything like that

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. the public notary insisted that I write my name as it appeared below

the line because I have been divorced, I had to write my name 2 different ways. The land was purchased under my maiden name. When I divorced I did not go back to my maiden name. Therefore I have an alias :eyes:

Also they wanted my middle name in places due to old documents that had my middle name. The public notary said all of it had to "match".

whatever.

[jberryhill]

13. Ah... A deed...

Deeds raise some special problems. Yes, if the property was owned under your maiden name, then you should have a certified copy of your name change document along with your ID, and execute under your maiden name (in some jurisdictions).

That document is going to be recorded by the county, and it screws up some deed recording systems if it looks like there is a chain of title problem due to a name change.

I was under the impression you were talking about a simple contract.

The county recorder is going to want to see the deed executed by the record owner - ie the person named as grantee in the prior deed, or you will give title searchers heartburn.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. yes, a deed.

so then, it does make a difference. right. thanks.

[jberryhill]

16. Oh yes... Succesive deeds need to match up /nt