Why can the Notary have a highly stylised signature while I am asked to write my full name clearly?
This is a question I hear surprisingly often.
In fact, it usually comes only a few moments after I have asked everyone around the table to write their full first name and surname clearly at the end of the deed.
I explain that each person should write their name in a legible manner, avoiding initials or an overly stylised signature.
Then, when it is my turn to sign, someone almost always smiles and asks:
"So why are you allowed to sign like that when I'm not?"
It is an entirely reasonable question.
The first thing to understand is that I also sign the deed in accordance with Italian law.
Like many Italian Notaries, however, my signature has naturally become more stylised over the years.
That is exactly what catches people's attention.
The important difference is that my identification does not depend solely on the appearance of my signature.
Alongside it you will always find my official notarial seal.
This is not simply a stamp.
It is an official instrument issued by the Italian State that identifies me as the public official who has received the deed and contains the information required by law for that purpose.
There is another significant distinction.
My signature is an official signature that is recognised within the Italian notarial system.
It is recorded, identifiable and inseparable from the office I hold as a public official.
For that reason, it performs a different legal function from the signature required of the parties appearing before me.
Your position is naturally different.
You are not signing in the exercise of a public office.
You do not have an official seal accompanying your signature.
Your identification therefore depends upon the fact that anyone reading the deed—even many decades from now—can immediately understand who signed it.
That is precisely why I ask you to write your first name and surname clearly and legibly.
The purpose is remarkably simple.
An Italian notarial deed is intended to remain understandable for generations.
Long after the people who signed it have disappeared, the document may still need to be consulted to reconstruct the history of a family, a property or a business.
A signature consisting only of initials or an illegible flourish could make that identification unnecessarily difficult.
For that reason, Italian notarial practice has always placed great importance on clear and unmistakable identification.
Many international clients tell me they had never considered this before.
Yet this small detail says a great deal about the philosophy of the Italian notarial system.
Even what appears to be an ordinary signature forms part of a much broader framework of safeguards designed to preserve legal certainty, protect authentic public records and ensure that every notarial deed remains clear, reliable and fully identifiable for generations to come.
It is another reminder that, in the work of an Italian Notary, even the smallest formalities serve an important purpose.
Because legal certainty is built not only on the great principles of the law, but also on the careful attention paid to every detail.