I would first advise that you call or email to discuss your case. Once this is done you will have a better idea as to how to proceed and the magnitude of the costs involved to undertake preliminary or full examinations. Often it is the gathering of known writings or signatures that requires the most effort for the client. Always keep in mind that the success of a case involving disputed or questioned handwriting will be dependent on:

1. The quality and quantity of the specimen (known) handwriting sourced for the comparison.
2. The quality and quantity of the questioned handwriting.
3. The complexity of the questioned handwriting.

The following section provides a guide for requesting or collecting handwriting and signature specimens.

Sourcing specimen handwriting & signatures

Specimen handwriting (which can be attributed to having been written by a particular individual to the satisfaction of the court) can be of two types; ‘Requested’ and ‘Collected’ specimens.

Requested specimens

These samples are written by an individual at the request of another and are specifically performed for the purpose of forensic comparison. If you wish to take requested samples then follow the following procedure.

1. Do not allow the individual to view the questioned document prior to taking the specimens.
2. Prepare multiple (10 to 20) documents similar in format as the document on which the questioned writing appears. For example if the questioned writing is a signature on a cheque, prepare repetitions of the cheque (removing any identifying codes), by photocopying a cheque you have generated for the exercise.
3. Provide a writing instrument similar to that used to form the questioned handwriting.
4. Have the subject sit comfortably and provide them with the first prepared document. What you ask the subject to write will depend on the form and format of the questioned writing. If the questioned writing is a signature, then you will ask that they sign their name. If the questioned writing is uppercase handwritten text then you will ask them to write in uppercase and dictate to them the exact content of the text. When the subject completes the task, remove the document, sign and date the document, and remove it from the subjects view. Continue this process for the remaining repetitions you have prepared.

Requested specimens do offer the advantage that the material prepared will be directly comparable to the questioned material (that is the material will contain the same format of document, and the same letters, letter combinations, word forms and sentences). The disadvantage with requested specimens is that they are unlikely to exhibit the same range of natural writing variation (since they were executed at a single point in time), they may be disturbed due to the inordinate attention placed on the writing act, and they do offer the writer the opportunity to disguise their normal writing habits. For this reason requested specimens are normally supplemented with collected specimens.

Collected specimens

Collected specimens are writing that are made during the course of an individuals day to day behaviour. These specimens are by far the most effective in terms of forensic comparisons. They are unlikely to be the product of disguise (particularly those collected prior to the time that a questioned sample of handwriting was written) and are likely to show the range of normal variation in an individuals writing behaviour.

When sourcing collected writing specimens particular attention should be paid to the format of the writing. In general terms signatures can only be compared to signatures (unless an individual has signed using their normal handwritten text forms), uppercase can only be compared to uppercase writing, cursive can only be compared to cursive and printed can only be compared to printed writing. If the questioned writing is a combination of these forms of writing then the writing specimens that are collected need to exhibit combinations of the letters.

Appropriate timing of the specimen handwriting

One of the most important elements of the collection process is related to the relationship of the date associated with the questioned writing with the dates associated with the specimen writings (this is particularly true when dissimilarities are detected between the questioned and specimen writings). What you are required to do is to ‘time bracket’ the questioned writing. Ideally your collected specimens of writing should be sampled both before and after the date associated with the questioned writings. In addition, repetitions of specimen writings should be sourced from as close to the time associated with the questioned writings as possible.

Sources of collected specimen writing

Specimen handwriting can be sourced from a wide variety of documents. You will find examples in the following table. Document types in red are those most commonly submitted as containing specimen handwriting.

(Reference: Huber, R.A & Headrick, A.M. Handwriting Identification: Facts and Fundamentals. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1999, pp250 – 251).