F.A.Q

First, things first.  Give me a call.  I do not charge for an initial consultation.  You are probably experiencing a range of emotions and are feeling overwhelmed.  Give me a call and I will explain what document examiners do and we can go from there.

The word “forensic” means relating to, or applying scientific methods and techniques to an investigation.  A forensic document examiner, also known as a questioned document examiner or document examiner examines, compares and analyzes documents in order to determine the authenticity or non-genuiness of the document in question.  Document examiners are also referred to as handwriting experts.

A handwriting expert also examines, compares and analyzes handwriting in order to determine the authenticity or non-genuiness of the writing in question.  A handwriting expert is also referred to as a handwriting analyst.

No, they are two very different professions.  As mentioned above a handwriting expert examines handwriting in order to determine its genuineness or non-genuiness.  A graphologist analyzes handwriting to determine personality traits.

No, a document examiner does not need to be certified.  Under Federal Rule 702 Testimony of an Expert Witness, it is up to the judge to determine if a witness is qualified as an expert and may give court testimony in the form of an opinion.   A witness may be qualified if they can demonstrate to the judge that they have the skill, knowledge, experience, education OR training in their field.

A forgery is a false document or signature that is created in order to cause harm or deceive another.

Exemplars are handwriting samples that are known to be genuine.  A document examiner will ask for 20 – 25 known, authentic, contemporaneous signatures to compare to the questioned signature.  That is, contemporaneous signatures are signatures that occurred during the time of the signature in question.  Our standard is usually the year before, the year of, or the year after.