Signature, Initials, or Print: What a Form Wants

A form that asks you to sign here, initial there, and print your name in a third box is not being fussy. The three marks do different jobs, and putting the wrong one in a box is one of the more common reasons a returned form gets sent back.

The signature

Your signature is the mark you use to indicate assent to the whole document. It is meant to be habitual and consistent rather than legible — consistency is what makes it comparable to other signatures of yours, which is the only property that matters.

That is worth knowing when you sign on a phone. A finger-drawn signature will not look like your pen signature, and that is generally fine for routine agreements. Where a document may be scrutinised, a signature drawn with a stylus at a larger zoom level will be closer to your usual hand.

Initials

Initials mark that you have read and accepted a particular clause or page, rather than the document as a whole. Multi-page contracts often ask for initials on every page so that pages cannot be substituted after signing. If a form asks for initials beside a specific paragraph, it is usually a term the drafter expects to be contested later.

Initials are normally the first letters of your given and family names. They should be consistent across every page of the same document.

The printed name

This exists because signatures are often unreadable. The printed name tells whoever processes the form who the signature belongs to, in block capitals if asked. Putting your signature in this box defeats the purpose and is the single most common filling error on paper forms.

Dates

Two things go wrong with dates. The first is format: a form asking DD/MM/YYYY and receiving MM/DD/YYYY produces a date that is either wrong or ambiguous, and 03/04 is unrecoverable either way. Check what the form asks. The second is backdating — writing a date earlier than the day you actually signed. Do not; depending on the document it ranges from unhelpful to fraudulent.

A quick check before sending

• Signature in the signature box, in your normal hand.
• Printed name in block capitals where asked, not a second signature.
• Initials on every page that asks for them, consistently formed.
• Date in the format the form requests, and today's date.
• Nothing left blank that is marked required, including on pages you skimmed.