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Does my signature have to be my legal name?
Anonymous6 views4 answers
Right out of highschool i started selling cars, and as a result took on the nickname "Buick Bob" (Example, not my real name or nickname). My customers, clients, friends, and even some business associates call me "Buick Bob". I started signing everything including legal documents and receipts as "Buick Bob", so that that if somebody forged my name I would know because they would write my real name instead of my nickname. I recently started getting grief from this. My employer and bank refused to accept my signature as "Buick Bob" which I have been signing everything this way for the last 6-9 months. When I go to get my license renewed i'm changing the signature. How ever my bank teller and employer told me that signing as "Buick Bob" instead of "Bob Swanson is illegal. is this true?
No, you do not have to use your legal name as your signature. That is your choice.
At the same time, your bank and your employer do not have to accept your "custom" signature if they do not want to. That is their choice.
It depends on the context. If you signed a contract that way and the other party tries to enforce the contract, using a nickname would likely be no defense. However, as you have experienced, you will have many practical problems that really aren't worth whatever benefit you are getting. Most would advise against complicating your life in this fashion.
The bank, any lender, any corporation will concern themselves with your ability to defraud them. So, sign your legal name and don't complicate your life with needless litigation.
I completely get your wanting to create a brand for yourself, but it is essentially the worst of both worlds. You can be bound to a contract by signing Buick Bob if that is how you identify yourself. You are not getting the benefit of having another identify, as you have found out, and now it may be easier for someone to pass themselves off as "Buick Bob." This is the very problem that you were trying to avoid. Bear in mind as well that you will need to identify "Buick Bob" as an alias you have used in the past if you are ever asked for that information. In the context of a credit applicaiton, it could be fraud not to do so. All in all, not such a good trade off.
