Signatures often evolve over time, raising a common question: can forensic experts still determine if a signature is authentic or forged despite these changes? In this article, Bart Baggett, a professional forensic document examiner, explains how signature variations are analyzed and why natural changes don’t prevent accurate forgery detection.
Understanding Signature Variations Over Time
People’s signatures are not static; they can change due to various factors. For example, a person’s handwriting may mature significantly between the ages of 12 and 20. Additionally, life events such as marriage can lead to name changes, especially for women in many countries, which naturally affects their signature.
How Life Events Influence Handwriting
Profound life events, including trauma like divorce, can also impact handwriting. Sometimes, subtle changes such as writing a former spouse’s last name smaller may occur. These variations reflect personality, mood, and temperament changes, which handwriting can reveal.
What Remains Consistent in Handwriting?
Despite these changes, certain physiological and neurological factors remain constant. The neurochemicals and muscle movements that control handwriting create unique quirks, hesitations, pen lifts, striations, and ink patterns that persist over decades.
These subtle features are critical for forensic examiners. They are best observed with high-resolution tools like microscopes rather than low-quality photocopies or faxes, which lack the detail necessary for accurate analysis.
How Forensic Experts Handle Signature Changes
Professional forensic document examiners establish a range of natural variations by analyzing samples collected over many years, sometimes spanning 30 years or more. This comprehensive approach allows them to account for changes and still provide a reliable opinion on authenticity.
If the analysis supports your case, hiring a forensic handwriting expert to testify in court can be invaluable. Judges appreciate independent experts who present scientific, well-founded opinions.
Need Expert Handwriting Analysis?
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