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The signature on my driver's license is a unique and identifiable smiley face :-)

I use this signature to sign all legally binding documents. A lot of the time, people reject it, and request an "actual signature". I then show them that it is the same signature as my driver's license, and they usually, (but not always,) accept it.

Is my signature legal? Or must it be my name? If it is legal, is it a bad idea?

Evorlor
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    I recall an anecdote about a judge who included a smiley face as part of his regular signature. This caused an appeal of a death sentence because when he signed the relevant documents he included the smiley face on that as well. – EvilSnack Mar 24 '19 at 00:17
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    This reminds me of a video I watched at some point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT-vb458eg – Solomon Ucko Mar 24 '19 at 02:13
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    Note that the root of the word "signature" is "sign", i.e. a mark used to identify. Any mark will do, the illiterate traditionally used a simple X to sign. – dotancohen Mar 24 '19 at 07:40

3 Answers3

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Can I sign legal documents with a smiley face?

Yes, that is lawful. A person's signature does not necessarily have to include the person's name or initials. What matters is that the signature reliably and unequivocally identifies the person who produces it, which apparently you have been able to prove by showing your driver's license.

The Black's Law Dictionary (4th Edition) states in its entry for signature that "whatever mark, symbol, or device one may choose to employ as representative of himself is sufficient". It directs to the entry for sign, which likewise speaks in terms of "any mark, as upon a document, in token of knowledge, approval, acceptance or obligation". Accordingly, your signature qualifies as mark or symbol that fits these purposes.

Your history of signing other legally binding documents that way further reinforces the authenticity of your signature.

If it is legal, is it a bad idea?

It is a bad idea to the extent (if any) that (1) others can easily forge your signature (notwithstanding that forgery or identity theft might be proved circumstantially); and (2) verifying your identity may cause hassle or annoyance to you and/or third parties. But this paragraph obviously is applicable to any and all signatures, not just those which at first glance may seem to be a joke.

Iñaki Viggers
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    As far as I know, when you sign, that is legally binding, no matter how you sign - whether you sign with an Emoji or as "Mickey Mouse", it is binding for you. And it is legal unless you do at as part of fraud. So if you sign with an Emoji and later claim you didn't sign this, that may be fraud. – gnasher729 Mar 23 '19 at 15:26
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    What's different with this particular set of characters is that, being punctuation, they're probably much easier to forge than a normal signature, which will usually contain more unique or unusual features. Although doctors basically get away with scribbles for signatures. =) – jpmc26 Mar 23 '19 at 15:56
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    @jpmc26 well, try to get the scribble right when you don't even know what it's supposed to say ;) – Frank Hopkins Mar 24 '19 at 00:49
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    Must the signature be fixed? Wouldn't it be better to have a unique signature per document so that it becomes impossible to forge it? It would be easy to mix a cryptographic secret, with the name of the parties, the name of the document and date to generate an alphanumeric signature to be written in a document... – Bakuriu Mar 24 '19 at 16:15
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    @Bakuriu That would be a digital signature, which has a different purpose to a traditional signature. Traditional signatures are as much about solemnization as authentication. – bdsl Mar 25 '19 at 14:09
  • @bdsl That's my point. If you allow any symbol whatsoever why not a random per-document string? – Bakuriu Mar 25 '19 at 19:13
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    @bdsl "If you allow any symbol whatsoever why not a random per-document string?" Because there needs to be consistency from which third parties can ascertain the signer's identity (for purposes of accountability), and per-event randomness preempts that consistency. String randomness is used only in cryptography (such as blockchain technologies), provided that the entities involved have implemented systems in which mathematical one-way functions [still] preclude forgery. But one cannot pretend that these cryptography-based implementations are amenable to every process or even practicable. – Iñaki Viggers Mar 25 '19 at 19:29
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In contrast to the US, where I live in Europe only the written surname (first name optional) is considered a valid signature (in most cases). Some documents, like a Last Will, even need to be signed with your full name, including middle name(s).

It is possible though to use any sign as your legal signature if the sign is registered and affirmed by a notary. This exception was intended for people who aren't able to write.

Martin Bonner supports Monica
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Julian
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    In the US you can sign with an "X" if so inclined or unable to sign otherwise. It's quite liberal – A. K. Mar 23 '19 at 18:49
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    In the U.S., a scribble that only theoretically contains your name is perfectly legal as a signature (source: I live in the U.S.), so I'm inclined to doubt that a smileyface or emoji or whatnot would be prohibited. – Vikki Mar 23 '19 at 21:02
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    Welcome to the site! Thanks for trying to help but we're looking for answers that are reasonably authoritative. We already have a detailed answer that explains that, yes, this is legal, so it's not really useful to add an answer of "I'm not sure", acknowledging that the US is different from Europe, and ending with "I bet [the US is similar to Europe]". – David Richerby Mar 23 '19 at 21:31
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    For your interest: The answer is correct for Germany. – K-HB Mar 23 '19 at 22:18
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    This is not true for the Netherlands. It would be wise not to make claims over the whole of Europe, as the laws are vastly different between even neighboring countries. – Sebastiaan van den Broek Mar 24 '19 at 08:05
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    @Julian What country do you mean by "where I live"? – David Siegel Mar 25 '19 at 03:24
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    I have heavily edited your answer so that it clearly provides a contrast to the answer for the US (which incidentally, also applies in England and Wales - and probably Scotland). I hope that answers some of @DavidRicherby's criticism; a citation, and a statement as to which country you live in, would improve the answer further. If you don't like my changes, you should roll them back. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Mar 25 '19 at 09:10
  • I think it is useful to have answers that show how wide the variation of legal systems can be. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Mar 25 '19 at 09:11
  • @MartinBonner I agree that the answer is much more useful, now. I'll leave my comment, for now, as Julian doesn't seem to have come back to the site since posting his answer. – David Richerby Mar 25 '19 at 09:13
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    This answer is not correct for Belgium either. There is a general concept of "paraf" here (that's what we call it), which is a shorthand signature that in some cases is just a scribble, in other cases is part of the person's full signature. All signature (full or short) are legally binding. This is why most official documents have you write your name next to your signature, specifically because not everyone's signature contains their name. – Flater Mar 25 '19 at 14:15
  • @K-HB I was told that in Germany, if your family name is only one or two letters, you need to add your given name. I have met people with two letter names. – gnasher729 Apr 13 '23 at 23:27
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A contract is a meeting of the minds. If your conduct before and immediately after the signing resembles the way people act when they have a meeting of the minds, that is proof of agreement.

To invalidate a contract over a defective signature, a party would have to object timely to the signature; immediately or the first time they reasonably should have seen it.

And then, since a contract is a meeting of the minds, you must reach a meeting of the minds about what an acceptable signature is. Both of you can draw vulgar graffiti tier art of a rooster and balls for all it matters, as long as you both signed it.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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