Every once in a while I will get instructions that the signer is to sign their name like it’s typed on the docs. For example, the first, middle, and last name. However, this can often require them to create a brand new signature because it is not what their signature looks like on the ID. I recently signed a previous escrow officer and she told me that it was ridiculous and she will sign how she normally signs. This makes sense to me. Can anyone please provide me with further clarification on this topic?
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I think we’ve all encountered this issue on occasion. A person’s signature will often not include their middle name. Some will be first and/or middle initial and last name, and many variations thereof. You will need to decide for yourself what you are comfortable doing. For me, as long as the signature matches (or in some instances, come close) to the one on the government issued ID they provided, I do not challenge it. I’ve not been challenged or had reduced fee due to the lack of a signature match.
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I view the signature that appears on the ID as only one of several ways to ID the signer. If the height, weight, and photo agree, I’m less worried about how well the signature matches. These days, the signature at the DMV is captured with an electronic pen that doesn’t work too well, and then the signature is distorted when it’s printed on the driver license. For states that do that, I hardly pay any attention to the signature on the driver license.
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For signatures that don’t look like anything recognizable I’ll say “can you affirm this includes your middle name (or initial)” and if they say yes I put a note on the order that says signature includes middle name or initial. Otherwise I’ll make them sign the way the name appears. Every meeting starts with instructions where this is covered.
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Hi Christi, there are many reasons the signature on their driver’s license might not match what their current signature looks like. I do comment to the signer on the difference I notice in what their signature looks like on their ID compared to their signature in my notary journal and I note any explanation they give me in my journal, such as “signer has a broken arm and is signing left handed” or “signer is older and has a shaky signature due to advance age, illness she says, etc.” Some signers have to sign “X” because that is the best they can do.
As far as signing with middle name, middle initial, etc. I instruct the signer to sign exactly as their signature block indicates to the best of their ability. If a signer has a scribble signature (I love those) then it is not an issue. Their signature is their signature. But if it is a perfectly legible signature that clearly says “Jane Signer” and the signature block indicated “JANE A. SIGNER”, then I ask Mrs. Signer to please include an A between her first and last name so that there is no chance it will be rejected by the lender or title co and delay closing. Usually even the people who don’t normally sign with middle initials understand the importance. If they still choose to disregard my instruction, then I don’t fight it – I just note it in my journal (and in my closing notes to the hiring company to CYA) and carry on with the signing.
In your case, the former escrow officer should have understood the importance of signing as signature block dictates, BUT YOU DID YOUR JOB ASKING HER to follow the signing instruction per your hiring company’s request. It is ultimately up to her how she signs her name. I am hoping hers was a scribble type of signature. Those are my favorite because whose to say whether that scribble contains a middle initial or not, right? 
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Totally agree! If their signature is crystal clear
and says Jane Signer but it’s supposed to say Jane A Signer
then that will not work. It’s hard for me when the person
gets upset about it or seems confused, or claim that they don’t know
how to sign their middle initial, then we play the let’s practice game.
That usually clears it up.
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I had a signature issue last week that never occurred to me that I would encounter. Unfortunately the two signers had what I would consider a power imbalance. Every instruction I gave to the female was repeated by the husband, who watched her every move, and would frequently “correct” her on what she was doing. It drives me crazy to sign with men who treat their spouses as if they are 5-year olds! But, I manage to keep my emotions in check!
After the documents were submitted, I got contacted by title that the signatures on some of the documents were inconsistent and the signing was going to need to be redone. It turns out that the “signatures” were not inconsistent. It happened that on some of the documents the female both printed her name and signed the documents. But the signature was always there on each document. (I sent back a copy of the scanned signature pages for each document - highlighting the signature on each page.) It didn’t matter. Title offered the signing again, but I did not accept or bid on the signing. I could not abide sitting through another signing with the husband.
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I had another signing today (holdover from yesterday) where the signer was coming to me to notarize a document changing the “existing account holder” to herself as the “new account holder” on an educational savings account. The problem was that the husband was deceased (existing account holder) and that was the section on the form that required notarization. She was told by the institution to sign in both places (as existing and new account holder) and have the form notarized, and send the signed form back with his death certificate. I informed her that I could not notarize her signature as the “existing account holder” as her husband’s name was the one printed as that person on the form, and clearly she was not the “existing” holder on the account, but the one making application to have the account assigned to her as the “new” account holder. The instructions were clear that BOTH the “existing” and the “new” account holder needed to sign the form, but only the “existing” account holder’s signature needed to be notarized. Nowhere on the form did it give instructions about what to do in the event that the “existing” account holder was deceased! I told her I couldn’t do what she requested, no matter what the agency told her they would accept. I informed her that there had to be another form that covered these circumstances.
She called the agency back the next morning to tell them of her dilemma. Sure enough she returned with another form that addressed the deceased “existing” account holder. As she was the successor account holder she was able to transition to the “new account holder” under this circumstance. However, she was still instructed by the institution to provide her printed name and signature in both places. I told her again that I couldn’t notarize the document in that manner. The only thing I was willing to do was have her printer her husband’s name as the existing account holder and indicate “deceased” after his name. Then sign her name identified as “successor” and print her name beneath. Then and only then could I notarize because I couldn’t notarize her signature with his name printed, since this was not like a POA, which becomes null and void upon the death of an individual.
What would you have done? In this job there are always unique circumstances, and never a dull moment!
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I can’t even form a thought about this without seeing the 2nd version of the form. But, of course, the privacy of all involved must be protected.
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@Tisino Thank You for taking the time to recount your direct experience with this Signing Order [SO].
It’s definitively an “oddball” SO & most certainly will help nearly all Notary Cafe members regarding utilizing their critical thinking skills.
Precise delineation of your thought process & steps subsequently taken are Priceless. 
I’d like to respond to the original post. I understand the gist of the original post to be it’s ridiculous to ask the signer to “create a brand new signature” so that the signature, if legible, will spell out the same letters as the name printed in the document. My dilemma is that I have a definite view on this, but because I’m not a lawyer, I don’t get to discuss my view with the signer.
Because more and more signatures, both on records that are not notarized, and those that are, are made electronically, I think the definition of the signer’s signature in the Vermont notary law is very practical, as well as being the law that I have to follow.
(19) “Sign” means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(A) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(B) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol,
sound, or process.
(20) “Signature” means a tangible symbol or an electronic signature that evidences the signing of a record.
So to satisfy the notary law, the signature doesn’t have to be legible, doesn’t have to contain any particular words or letters, doesn’t have to be written with a pen, and doesn’t have to be written in the same style that the signer usually uses when signing with a pen.
So if the signer usually signs, in cursive writing, “John Doe”, but the company the document is being sent to wants the signature to be a legible “John Quincy Doe” (and that actually is the signer’s full name), the signer isn’t doing anything wrong by making the signature by printing with a pen “John Quincy Doe”, just to make the company happy. Hand printing is just as valid a way to sign as cursive writing. The notary isn’t doing anything wrong by notarizing this signature, as long as the notary has followed the state notary law and is convinced the signer really is entitled to use the name John Quincy Doe.
One could complain about the company being too strict, but that isn’t likely to be fruitful.
Actually, this was not a signing order (SO) per se. It was GNW for a neighbor who had instructions from her institution on how to complete the form. I took the time to explain to her why/how those instructions were inconsistent with the WA SOS guidelines on how to append my notary seal. Then I explained to her what I would need as a correction to the instructions in order to move forward. I was certain there had to be instructions on what to do when the primary party is deceased, and documentation showing her as a successor account holder. There was. She just hadn’t known how to fully explain the situation in order to receive the correct document and instructions. However, I still was in disagreement with the (verbal) instructions from the institution on her signing in both places. So, I explained to her the compromise under which I was willing to append my notary seal, if she was willing to accept it. She was willing and the company accepted the form as signed.
@Tisino Absolutely!
I walk the line as I’m told to a point. I give the instructions as the signing companies give. I also realize I can not force anything and I am not going to spend 30 minutes on the topic. So my work around is to advise them as the instrustions say and feel so long as I have said it, the liablility on my end is covered. Some special individuals will sign in a mark format that clearly looks nothing like a name at all. I warn them that I will not take the blame if it rejected by title after giving the instructions I was given. So far 6 years in and I’ve had no issues that my instruction giving hasn’t gotten me out of.
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