Gideon Epstein, MFS
Forensic Examiner of
Questioned Documents
What You Should Know About Handwriting Examination
Handwriting is involved in a great many civil litigations from challenged Wills, to denied signatures on Pre-Nuptial Agreements, to disputes involving Real Property, to Promissory Notes and Medical Malpractice Suites. The identification or elimination of a person’s signature is often at the heart of litigation. Forensic handwriting examination is a forensic science that can tie an individual directly to writing at the exclusion of any other person. In order for that to happen it is important for the attorney to understand what is required for such a conclusion and what he or she can do to build the strongest possible case. Identifying a qualified forensic document examiner should be your first important consideration. One good way is to contact the membership directories of well-established forensic document organizations such as the American Society of Questioned Document examiners (ASQDE.ORG) or the questioned document section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS.ORG). Once the qualified forensic examiner has been identified it is important to work together to collect the needed documents for the examination that is required.
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Original documents are always the best and will often result in the strongest conclusion. If the original is not available, the next best quality copy must be used.
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The known handwriting should be as close in time to the disputed writing as possible. It is important to note however that the average persons handwriting does not change that much over even long periods of time and using known handwriting that is many years separated from the disputed is often sufficient for a proper examination.
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The known handwriting must contain the same letters and letter combinations as the disputed writing. If a signature is being disputed, the known signatures used in the comparative examination must be in the same name. If hand printing is disputed, the known writing must also be printed since handwriting (script) cannot be properly compared to hand printing or vice versa. If foreign handwriting is in dispute, then the known handwriting must be in the same alphabet.
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Handwriting is a product of the motor, muscular and nervous movements of the body all working together to produce combinations of habits. If any one of those three movements is affected, the writing will also display that unintentional impairment. It could be age, illness, medication, strenuous exercise, intoxication, the writing surface or even the writing instrument. It is important for the attorney to understand the outside influences that could contribute to the writing and why it is important to work closely with your forensic examiner to resolve any issues that could have contributed to the writing that is under examination.
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The amount of known handwriting that is needed for any particular examination may also vary and could be a factor in the strength of the conclusion that is rendered by the forensic document examiner. Sufficient known handwriting is required to conduct a comparative examination of the many unconscious handwriting habits that make up every person writing. Since each person has a normal range of handwriting variation (the many ways a person has of forming the same letter and letter combination) it is the document examiners responsibility to identify what that range of variation is for the writer whose handwriting he is studying. For some writers whose range is not very great, it may be possible to conduct the comparative examination with a minimum amount of known writing. While another writer who has a very wide range of variation, it may be necessary to obtain a greater amount of known handwriting in order to identify all the unconscious handwriting habits that appear in the disputed writing.
It is important for the attorney to know that forensic handwriting examination is often much more complicated than simply looking at two writings and being able to quickly state that the two are made by the same person or not. Working together can often result in a strong case with a definitive conclusion. After more than 40 years and working with thousands of attorneys I believe I can bring the necessary experience to bear on your case and clearly explain the results to a judge or jury in a convincing and understandable manner.
Gideon Epstein, MFS
Forensic Document Examiner
402 Great Falls Road
Rockville, MD 20850
301-675-3711 (Voice)
301-315-2541 (fax)
gideon4hw@gmail.com
