is it legal to sign another persons signature with their authority?

[TracyJayy]

is it legal to sign another persons signature with their authority?

[factor-fiction]

When i saw the title i had a feeling you were going to ask that.
What has been signed- it depends whether it's a passport application, a witness statement or a birthday card etc

[sandyRoe]

If you signed their will for them there might be repercussions

[Barmaid]

If you signed someone's Will for them in their presence and at their direction and the rest of the requirements for the execution of the Will were followed it would be fine, Sandy!

[mike11111]

By definition you cannot "sign" someone else's name. However in the days of high illiteracy it was common practice for someone to "make his mark", usually a cross, and to have that followed by "Witness his mark", signed by someone literate.

[sandyRoe]

I'd been thinking if you'd signed a will in their name and they didn't know you had

[mike11111]

You mean like Dr Harold Shipman?

[Barmaid]

Well that would be a straight forward forgery - JUST like Harold Shipman.

[mike11111]

I know that this is off-topic, but if Shipman had not made such a crude forgery he might still be alive today, merrily foreshortening the allotted span of the good dowagers of Lancashire.

[Barmaid]

I know Mike - but it makes you wonder if he "wanted" to be caught seeing as the Will was such a crude forgery and the woman's daughter was a solicitor.

[mike11111]

" (Shipman)...After a brief period as medical officer for Hatfield College, Durham..."
Holy hell and buckets of sh*t! That was my college! I never knew that! Thank God I'd left the year before he came! I shall have perennial nightmares now!

[grffindoor2011]

On another answer I talked about a guy from Cambodia who used to sign a declaration at the British Embassy so he could still receive his pension.

Anyway, he signed his declaration in ink using his thumb print. I had to match it up with his previous ones using a magnifying glass!

Per procurationem (pp) is certainly legal. It depends in what context you are asking the question.

Are they of sound mind? Is it just a standard letter? or a document you have been asked to sign because they are not in this country. For example a Sky or National Lottery/contract/direct debit because they live in Spain.