I am not convinced there are any legal requirements for most signatures. A consistent style for one's signature is a useful security practice, just as signing in pen rather than pencil is a good idea. But I am not convinced it is a legal requirement.
A bizzare example of what I presume is a legal signature. This example has only been used in exercises, but I presume it would be valid if it ever happened for real. There is a (simulated) emergency at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The governor goes to the state emergency operations center, about 130 miles away in Waterbury. Although the state has a radio network, it doesn't always work that far; more consistent results have been obtained with ham radio. The ham operator in Waterbury would be handed a written declaration of a state of emergency, signed by the governor. It would be relayed by voice radio to an operations center near the nuclear plant, and written down by another ham operator. It would be considered a telegram, and telegrams have been considered by the courts to be signed writings for more than 100 years. |
