How to Sign a Letter on Someone Else's Behalf

There are many reasons why you might need to sign your name on someone else's behalf. Administrative assistants routinely sign letters on behalf of their bosses and children sign for their parents who may be aging or are in the hospital. Whatever the reason, there are proper ways to sign your name on behalf of someone else.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Write the initials p.p. before your signature, which should be above the person's name for whom you are signing. The initials p.p. is Latin for per procurationem (per pro) and means the power is delegated to you to sign on that person's behalf and is used commonly in the business world. It is sometimes seen vice versa: p.p. before the other person's name, but this is a common mistake.

2. Sign your name and next to or underneath, write "on behalf of" or "for," then the other person's name. This is good for personal letters or thank you notes.

3. Obtain power of attorney. For legal documents, like checks, medical documents and bills, you will need to have the person give you power of attorney, which means he has given you the legal right to act on his behalf. A power of attorney document must be signed by the person while mentally competent and must also be signed by a notary public. If this is not the case, you will need to petition the court to appoint you power of attorney. Once you have power of attorney, you can either sign your name for that person or sign that person's actual name for him. You may need to write other words like "as attorney in fact" next to your name. This varies state to state and is different depending on the document signed. See Resources below for a chart outlining different signing methods for each state and type of document.

Tips & Warnings

• Before signing as power of attorney, double check with a lawyer or the business the document is for (i.e., the bank) and ask the proper way to sign.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Forms Guru.com