Is this a real signature?
A common question. In some cases signatures are determined as forgeries, in some they are determined as genuine, and in others there is simply insufficient evidence to determine one way or the other.
In one case, we were engaged by a law firm to examine a will, with a focus on the question of whether the signature was genuine or not. We were provided access to the original document and an appropriate quantity of specimen signatures, which was critical to the outcome of the examination.
Efforts by the engaging law firm to obtain effective specimen signatures greatly assisted the comparison process. (Specimen signatures should be obtained from the same time period as the questioned signature, particularly when dealing with signatures of the elderly or infirm).
Our evidence not only determined that the signature was a forgery, but that the document was created in 2012, two years after the death of the person supposedly executing the will.
Evidence was established not only from the executor signature, but the signatures of the alleged witnesses, the handwritten entries on the document, and the manner in which the document had been created.
This matter was resolved swiftly in the civil sense and referred to Police for investigation, resulting in a criminal prosecution.