Questioned Documents in Family Law Cases

"Our firm retained M. Patricia Fisher as an expert in a marital dissolution proceeding. A well respected trial judge (now retired) in the San Francisco Bay area who presided for several years in the “Complex Civil Trial” Department, found that Ms. Fisher’s analysis was more thorough than the opposing expert, more credible, and more worthy of belief. ...

Greg C. Abel, Esq.

Walnut Creek, California

Questioned documents usually surface in family law cases during divorces. The wife or the husband claims he/she did not sign the prenuptial agreement. One spouse decides that the other spouse should not get the property and signs the other spouse’s name on a Deed transferring the property. Both spouses fight over who gets custody of the children.

Common types of documents in Family Law cases

Deeds to property
Bank accounts and other financial records
Beneficiary forms
Agreement to change ownership to a family business
Prenuptial agreements
Diaries or notes purportedly written by the child to accuse the other spouse of sexual or other abuse

Case Sample – Husband attempts to put the blame for the writing on his children!

The following case involved a husband who was avoiding giving his wife the cash from a second business claiming that his young children probably did the writing on the envelopes. The judge did not buy it.

Case Sample – Examining handwriting in Kanji

"Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of my mother whom you have assisted in testifying during the trial in San Jose with such dedication, accuracy, and professionalism. Our expert in Japan agreed with your analysis."

Dr. Iri Sato-Baran

Japan

Just as other cases, family law cases are not restricted to writing in English. There are many characteristics in writings that are not dependent solely on the configurations of letters or characters. As examples, a few of the characteristics that are independent of the letter or character formation include spacing, arrangement of the writing on the page, pressure, size, slant, proportions, pagination, connecting strokes, fluency or dysfluency, writing skill, subtle writing habits, numbers and symbols. When working with a different language from that of the document examiners native language, it is important to follow the same procedures used in all handwriting comparisons, i.e. the same Kanji or Chinese character needs to be compared to the same Kanji or Chinese character. It may be necessary to retain a specialist in the language to translate and confirm that the examiner understands how the language is constructed. The examiner may also need to have a copybook example by which the person was taught to see how that person has individualized the model. In the following case, Ms. Fisher was successful in demonstrating to the court that the husband, not the wife, signed the wife’s name on the deed to the property. The following exhibits dissected the name Sato that contained two different Kanji characters and juxtaposed them to the questioned name Sato and the known names Sato written by the wife.

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Testimonials

“Patricia is a consummate professional, thoroughly schooled in her profession, and one of the most composed witnesses I have every watched testify.”

— Michael J. McLaughlin, Esq.
Landlord – Evictions and Unlawful Detainer Actions

“Patricia Fisher was selected by joint agreement of my opposing counsel, who represented a government entity, and me, to conduct a questioned document examination to determine if a disputed signature on a document was that of my client, or another person who had denied signing the document. She performed the examination in a prompt fashion, and her ultimate conclusions were clearly and thoroughly explained and well-supported in a detailed report provided to both parties. Ultimately, her report let to an evidentiary hearing before an arbitrator where Ms. Fisher testified about her work, the opinions she reached concerning the signature, and provided the basis for those opinions. The arbitrator who presided over the matter found that Ms. Fisher’s work, ultimate conclusions, and testimony were entitled to great weight and made findings consistent with her opinions. I would not hesitate to call upon Ms. Fisher in the future and an objective and thorough analysis of a disputed signature.”

— Michael L. Rains, Esq.
Criminal Defense

““Our firm retained M. Patricia Fisher as an expert in a marital dissolution proceeding. A well respected trial judge (now retired) in the San Francisco Bay area who presided for several years in the “Complex Civil Trial” Department, found that Ms. Fisher’s analysis was more thorough than the opposing expert, more credible, and more worthy of belief. …

— Greg C. Abel, Esq.
Family Law

“Patricia Fisher’s initial review and opinion of relevant documents concerning the authenticity of a signature on a will resulted in my accepting a case in 2020 that was recently resolved very favorably for my client. Ms. Fisher’s expertise, dedication, insight and continued communication throughout the litigation were invaluable. I can’t express how truly grateful I am that Patricia Fisher was willing and able to provide her expertise. I whole heartedly recommend her.”

— Holley H. Perez, Esq.
Probate

“It was because of you and your wonderful work. Everyone agreed that the writing was the grantors and the court entered and order affirming the changes on the trust. I will recommend you to anyone who needs hand writing analysis. I am so happy we found you.”

— Joan Grimes, Esq.
Probate

“My firm retained Ms. Fisher to establish that certain key documents were not signed by my client. Her testimony during our jury trial was without a doubt critical to our success. Her demonstratives and clarity at trial were hugely beneficial for the jury. Thank you for your professionalism, expertise, and effectiveness.”

— Kyle Monte de Oca, Esq.
Legal Malpractice

“Trustworthy and reliable; Patricia was my hired expert in a recent trial and was able to help us prove our claims to the court even though we had a short deadline and a high burden to meet. I would work with her again and recommend hiring her.”

— Suzanne A. Tong, Esq.
Family Law

“I have personally worked with Patricia on a very complicated case that was litigated in Contra Costa County. She was of great help to my client and the Court in analyzing documents and giving testimony. She had a PowerPoint presentation that explained how she arrived at her expert opinion and conclusions. We were very fortunate to have her participate in this case. I highly recommend Fisher Forensic Documentary Laboratory and would use these services again.”

— Debra H. Kirk, Esq.
Family Law

“I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you and to let you know what a brilliant job you did. Clearly, you were very thorough and diligent in your methods and as a result, your testimony was delivered in terms that were clear and concise. I was remarkably impressed. I couldn’t have asked for a better witness.”

— Suzanne
Client in a probate case

“Because of her strong background in litigated matters, her tremendous work ethic in research and preparation, and her creativity, our firm classifies Patricia Fisher with the highest rating of any of the professional experts we deal with in these matters. She recently allowed us to prevail in a case against the adverse opinions of two other experts. Her testimony was so clear and forceful along with her excellent graphics that it essentially made the day for our position that the will was a forgery.”

– Stanley Pedder, Esq.
Probate
Lafayette, CA

“I thank you for the work you did. I thought it was brilliant.”

– Barbara R. Simon
Licensed Professional Fiduciary
San Francisco, CA

“You recently served as my expert witness in a will forgery case. The case was complicated by the loss of several originals by a third party, and a decline in health by the testator during the period in question.

You were of enormous assistance to me, not only in analyzing the documents in question, but also helping focus discovery and in obtaining appropriate handwriting samples from the witnesses and beneficiaries involved. Although the opposing party consulted three other document examiners, the case settled three days after I presented just a summary of your report.

You have earned the deep gratitude of my client and myself, and I recommend you without reservation for any questioned documents case.”

– Rick Seim, Esq.
Milpitas, CA

“Ms. Fisher provided excellent analysis in a very difficult and complex matter requiring the evaluation of many important amendments to a trust document which disinherited two parties of about $2 million in assets. Her testimony was particularly impressive and helpful when compared to the opposing expert. I strongly recommend her.”

– Bradley A. Bening, Esq.
San Jose, CA

“You have set the standard for what I expect of an expert – someone passionate, meticulous, knowledgeable, and of the highest integrity. Thank you so much for all your help in our case.”

– Ben E. Dupré, Esq.
Santa Clara, CA

“Ms. Fisher is one of the most intelligent, pleasant, and convincing experts we’ve ever used.”

– Mark Hooshmand, Esq.
San Francisco, CA

“Patricia Fisher is a highly competent, thorough and credible questioned document examiner. She is so well respected that the District Attorney called her as his witness before she even testified on my client’s behalf – and her testimony resulted in an immediate dismissal for my client. I cannot say enough good things about Ms. Fisher’s work.”

– Henry H. Doering, III
San Francisco Deputy Public Defender (retired)

“…the court agreed with your conclusion that the questioned signature on the guaranty at issue was not genuine. It was quite evident that, solely due to your testimony, we prevailed on that issue.

I was extremely impressed by your professional integrity, meticulous investigation and examination of the documents in question, and your demeanor on the witness stand. We were also very appreciative of your prompt turnaround time, and willingness to meet our scheduling demands.”

– John MacConaghy, Esq.
Sonoma, CA

“Patricia Fisher is one of the best forensic handwriting (document, paper, ink, impressions) experts I have ever used. Her report and trial testimony were very credible.”

– Jerome Blaha, Esq.
Pleasanton, California
Special Recommendation

“Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of my mother whom you have assisted in testifying during the trial in San Jose with such dedication, accuracy, and professionalism. Our expert in Japan agreed with your analysis.”

– Dr. Iri Sato-Baran
Japan

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO WORK WITH AN ATTORNEY?

With few exceptions, Patricia Fisher works directly with the attorney or law firm, rather than with the individual client. This is important to protect the privilege for both the client and the case. Once Ms. Fisher has been listed as an expert, there is no longer a privilege. Everything is discoverable from the initial phone call. Working directly with the attorney Ms. Fisher can focus on the documents in question as the attorney knows the law and has certain confidential client attorney privileges. The attorney can obtain or subpoena any additional documents that will be necessary which an individual cannot do. Working with the attorney helps reduce potential bias. Individual clients usually want to tell their whole story to the document examiner not realizing that they are potentially eliminating the examiner from assisting them.

If your attorney has asked you to locate a document examiner, please make a brief call so that we can provide you the information your attorney will need.

Avoid telling the examiner your story.
Let the examiner ask you the questions that examiner believes are important.

We realize that when documents are at issue such as in financial elder abuse cases or child custody cases, the stories can be horrifying. However, a forensic document examiner’s job is to be objective and reduce any task unrelated information.

As an example, if you believe your brother killed your elder mother to get her money, this is unrelated information for the document examiner. On the other hand if you believe your brother forged your elder mother’s signature on a Deed of Trust, the task related information would sound like this, “We need a document examiner to determine if our elder mother signed the Deed of Trust.” Notice that you are not deciding the end result by saying, “We know our brother forged the Deed of Trust.” The latter is a discoverable statement that the opposing counsel can use against the examiner.