Giving away my good name.

September 18, 2007 7:05 AM

Is there any way I can make my forged signature legally bulletproof?

I'm away from home but need something to have my signature on it. I've authorized my boyfriend to fake it on my behalf, but is there anything we can do to ensure that if he's called out on it, my "signature" holds up legally - short of some kind of power of attorney deal, which obviously isn't what we're after here?

My friend's mom in middle school authorized her to forge her name if she needed a signature, and said that if the forger put their own initials in parentheses after the fake signature, it meant that it was an authorized forgery. I doubt there's truth to this, but am curious as to whether there really is anything of that type that we can do at long distance.

posted by crinklebat to Law & Government (17 answers total)

Can your boyfriend fax/scan/send a copy of the documents to you, and then have you sign and fax it back? This isn't answering the question exactly, but I know accountants who do this for documents for people living in other states.
posted by Comrade_robot at 7:14 AM on September 18, 2007

It is not a science. If it is reasonably like your signature and there are no witnesses, and you don't deny it is your signature ... well then it is your signature.

If this is something really important, such as something that needs to be notarized, no can do. I had to run things for my boss, such as car registration. He'd just give me a letter authorizing me as power of attorney, it was not a giant legal form. It just said that I was authorized as POA. I never had problems with it.
posted by geoff. at 7:15 AM on September 18, 2007

Response by poster: I don't believe the document can be signed and faxed back. I suppose it can't hurt to mention that it's for the post office - I need him to pick up a package for me that had notice left a few days ago. To authorize him to pick up the package, I need to be able to sign the slip, but if I were in a position where I could sign the slip, I'd be able to pick up the damn package myself.
posted by crinklebat at 7:18 AM on September 18, 2007

short of some kind of power of attorney deal, which obviously isn't what we're after here?

Why not? If its a legal document and not, say, a package pickup of some kind, the only thing that will be legally "bulletproof" is limited power of attorney.

Quoting now from here:

"A power of attorney is a document that evidences the creation of a relationship between two people who are designated as the "principal" and the "agent". The principal designates the agent in the document, and the agent is authorized to act on the principal's behalf--to stand in the shoes of the principal--for whatever business the power of attorney permits. A power of attorney can be general, so that the agent can conduct any sort of business on behalf of the principal, or it may be specific, limited to the transactions expressly provided for in the document. Third parties may treat the agent as if he or she is the principal in any transactions which the agent is authorized to conduct. Powers of attorney are commonly used in all sorts of business activities, and are very frequently executed on behalf of individuals."

The only cost to you would be the cost of having the POA document notarized, but if you really need "bulletproof" this is what you're after.
posted by anastasiav at 7:23 AM on September 18, 2007

This is not a big deal at all. I have done this for my gf, and she has done it for me, sometimes while standing infront of the nice man at the post office who can obviously tell that I am signing a girls name while not being a girl.

--Chris
posted by Maastrictian at 7:26 AM on September 18, 2007

Here in France, my girlfriend and I got away with granting eachother a power of attorney for picking up stuff at the post office. He should bring the slip if he can. It can't hurt to also have it scanned and faxed back.

"I, crinklebat, allow Mr crinklebat to pick up any packages kept for me at crinklebat's post office that have arrived on or before the 18th of September 2007". You can be more detailed, "the package sent by soandso before the 18th of September" or more general, "any mail or packages"

Paste scan of passport, identity card or drivers' licence here.

Sign.
posted by stereo at 7:37 AM on September 18, 2007

Don't contest that it's your signature, and if asked, say you signed it. Then the burden of proof is on someone else to prove that you lied about signing your own name, which would be very difficult.

It's a white lie, but it's no big deal.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:40 AM on September 18, 2007

It's the post office. No one at the post office cares. Not that they are lazy or anything, just that they have better things to do than to detector people's signatures on packages.

Don't worry. He could sign his name, your name, Mr. Magoo's name and the post office would hand him the package if he had the orange slip.
posted by winna at 7:51 AM on September 18, 2007

Agree with winna. The post office won't care.
posted by radioamy at 8:35 AM on September 18, 2007

It's the post office. No one at the post office cares. Not that they are lazy or anything, just that they have better things to do than to detector people's signatures on packages.

I disagree . . . I am always asked for my ID when picking up packages. They may not verify signatures but they always compare my photo ID with me and with the name on the package. One time I ran into the post office with my two very small children and when I got up to the counter and they asked for my ID I realized I had left it in the car. I thought they'd just let it slide but the guy just stood there staring at me until I turned around and ran back to my car for the ID. It was pouring rain, too.

stereo has a good idea: "I, crinklebat, allow Mr crinklebat to pick up any packages kept for me at crinklebat's post office that have arrived on or before the 18th of September 2007". You can be more detailed, "the package sent by soandso before the 18th of September" or more general, "any mail or packages"

Paste scan of passport, identity card or drivers' licence here.

And you may want to contact the post office yourself to see what your options are.
posted by Sassyfras at 8:41 AM on September 18, 2007

As long as he has photo ID, his name is on the top part next to "agent's name" and there's a signature in the box, they'll let him pick up the package. How is the post office going to know what your real signature looks like anyway? As long as all the proper boxes are filled out, they won't care.
posted by blueskiesinside at 10:16 AM on September 18, 2007

Just to touch on the initials-in-parenthesis bit: it's perfectly legal and accepted. I've worked in a law office where secretaries often found themselves with documents that needed signatures, but no lawyers around to sign them. In this case, a legible "signature" of the lawyer's name is written, followed by the signer's initials to indicate it was signed by a third party on behalf of the lawyer.
posted by undercoverhuwaaah at 11:29 AM on September 18, 2007

oh honey just have him sign it. we do this all the time at the po. they'll never know (nor do they really care).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:31 PM on September 18, 2007

Just call the post office, you can't be the the first person in this situation.
posted by doorsfan at 12:47 PM on September 18, 2007

The post office is one of the few places that do care, in my experience, so simply forging it in plain sight won't work. Limited powers of attorney are easy to get, and could be made for you in an hour and mailed to your recipient. For less formal signature items (not sure if this would work at the post office), I just sign my own name, print my own name, then print "by direction". It's been experimentally determined that for a credit card receipt, hotel restaurant check charged to your room, etc. nobody cares what you write in the signature block.
posted by ctmf at 5:33 PM on September 18, 2007

In reality, people "forge" signatures ALL THE TIME. As long as it's done with the named person's permission and without fraudulent intent, there should be no problems. I've never bothered with the initials in parentheses, nor have I ever even seen them used.

The only possible hitch is if you're required to sign in someone else's presence and it will be obvious to that person that you're not the person signing... then you might need some sort of agency or power of attorney.
posted by mahamandarava at 7:39 PM on September 18, 2007

My mom had carpal tunnel surgery more than 3 years ago. Since then, I sign her name all the time... write checks for her where I'm not on the account, sign papers, etc. Our signatures are quite noticably different. No one has ever noticed, or if they noticed, they didn't care.

The one time I had any trouble was at a Wal-Mart, ironically the one I used to work for. A girl was there who was apparently still pretty new, and when I wrote the check but my mom handed over her driver's license, the cashier got angry and said several times, "I need you to sign your own check!" This, despite my mom standing there repeatedly telling her that it was her check and it was okay for me to sign her name.

She called a manager over, who knew me, since I'd worked there. She barely looked at the check and didn't even ask what was going on, just authorized it and walked away.
posted by IndigoRain at 11:32 PM on September 18, 2007