Do you have one of those "I'm-far-too-busy-and-important-to-be-wasting-a-minute-of-my-precious-life-signing-my-name-for-the-likes-of-you" signatures? One of those signatures most commonly associated with lawyers or doctors? A signature devoid of any discernible letter formations? A signature that has been reduced to a carelessly written single, irritable loop? Well, consider this:
Some years ago, I handled a case for a man who owned as small, rather successful business. This man had an old family friend manage his bank accounts, both business and personal. This family friend went on vacations with his family and him. This family friend was a godparent to one of his children. This family friend spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family and him and had for decades.
Fast forward and unbeknownst to anyone, this family friend had developed a gambling problem. Between the business and personal accounts, this family friend had drained the accounts of about $70,000 before he suspected anything.
How did she do this? He had one of those signatures... a signature that any seven-year-old could duplicate well enough that HIS OWN BANK would accept as valid. A hastily written loop.
Unrelated to the old family friend, I recently heard from an attorney I work for periodically. He too had one of those signatures and I had, in the past, advised him of the dangers. Well, he called to tell me that he had just returned from his bank where he had up-dated all of his signature information to reflect his *new* signature. It seems that he is going through a rather dicey divorce. In his words, there is someone now walking the planet who would "just love to get into those accounts." Preemptive measures were warranted.
Don't have a signature that any seven-year-old could readily duplicate. You're asking for trouble.
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