My passport signature is different to the one on my driving licence. Will this cause problems?

James_02

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

MattMattMattUK

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Is the signature obviously wrong, eg. your legal name and name on the documents is James Smith, but your signature is obviously James Jones? If so that might present an issue, but I am more surprised it was allowed in the first place. 

James_02

MattMattMattUK said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Is the signature obviously wrong, eg. your legal name and name on the documents is James Smith, but your signature is obviously James Jones? If so that might present an issue, but I am more surprised it was allowed in the first place. 

When I was younger I had been planning to change my surname to my mother's maiden name, but I never actually did it. Say my mother's maiden name is Smith, and my current surname is Jones, my old signature was JS, whereas the one I use now is J.Jones. I never actually wrote my surname as my mother's maiden name on any legal documents, I only based my signature on it.

MattMattMattUK

James_02 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Is the signature obviously wrong, eg. your legal name and name on the documents is James Smith, but your signature is obviously James Jones? If so that might present an issue, but I am more surprised it was allowed in the first place. 

When I was younger I had been planning to change my surname to my mother's maiden name, but I never actually did it. Say my mother's maiden name is Smith, and my current surname is Jones, my old signature was JS, whereas the one I use now is J.Jones. I never actually wrote my surname as my mother's maiden name on any legal documents, I only based my signature on it.

If it is obviously a different name then I am slightly surprised it did not get flagged when you applied, but yes, I can imagine it might cause some problems at some point, especially if you were to apply for a mortgage for example as I am pretty sure a solicitor would not like the different name in the signature. Double check on the times as they are very slow at the moment, but I would be tempted to update your license, rather than having to deal with any issues when they do occur. 

NSG666

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Not sure what problems this might throw up on holiday. I have a slightly different set up. Let's say my birth certificate says I'm called Jonathan Paul Smith. On my driving license I have that full name however when I got my passport I used Jon Paul Smith. I sign J P Smith on both hence the difference to your situation. Had rental cars on many occasions without problems- about the only time I've had to show both documents.

MattMattMattUK

NSG666 said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Not sure what problems this might throw up on holiday. I have a slightly different set up. Let's say my birth certificate says I'm called Jonathan Paul Smith. On my driving license I have that full name however when I got my passport I used Jon Paul Smith. I sign J P Smith on both hence the difference to your situation. Had rental cars on many occasions without problems- about the only time I've had to show both documents.

I know someone with the same issue, buying a house was a nightmare and getting married involved a rather heated discussion with the registrar before they agreed to accept the documents. 

NSG666

MattMattMattUK said:

NSG666 said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Not sure what problems this might throw up on holiday. I have a slightly different set up. Let's say my birth certificate says I'm called Jonathan Paul Smith. On my driving license I have that full name however when I got my passport I used Jon Paul Smith. I sign J P Smith on both hence the difference to your situation. Had rental cars on many occasions without problems- about the only time I've had to show both documents.

I know someone with the same issue, buying a house was a nightmare and getting married involved a rather heated discussion with the registrar before they agreed to accept the documents. 

Must have encountered jobsworths as I've done both without issue - the marriage certificate did need to have the full version followed by 'aka' the short version. Just realised you could mean the signature issue not the name issue.

sheramber

Unless you intend to use your driving licence on holiday how would anybody know it is a different signature?

Your problems would come if you want to use both items for  an identity check as then they would not agree.

If your signature is different presumably your name is different so you need to change the name on your driving licence. not just the signature.

MattMattMattUK

NSG666 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

NSG666 said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Not sure what problems this might throw up on holiday. I have a slightly different set up. Let's say my birth certificate says I'm called Jonathan Paul Smith. On my driving license I have that full name however when I got my passport I used Jon Paul Smith. I sign J P Smith on both hence the difference to your situation. Had rental cars on many occasions without problems- about the only time I've had to show both documents.

I know someone with the same issue, buying a house was a nightmare and getting married involved a rather heated discussion with the registrar before they agreed to accept the documents. 

Must have encountered jobsworths as I've done both without issue - the marriage certificate did need to have the full version followed by 'aka' the short version. Just realised you could mean the signature issue not the name issue.

Nope, different versions of names, long form and short form. Birth certificate was the full version, passport was the short form of the first name, driving license was the short form and omitted the middle name. The mortgage was a nightmare for them, real back and forth, none of the names on the documents exactly matched the name on the bank accounts (long and short form first name, none, one or two of the middle names) and it caused it to drag on for an extra month. The registrar was a total jobsworth, also disagreed with with the job title and variants of even though they were entirely correct. The ceremony ended up being half an hour late because of the difficulties with them. Needless to say when he renewed his passport and driving license they got changed to full first name and both middle names!

smudge56

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

To answer your question in the heading. No 

ItsComingRome

MattMattMattUK said:

James_02 said:

Before I was 16 I used a signature that used my mother's maiden name because I had been planning to change my surname to her name once I got older (as my parents are split up). As a result, the signature on my driving licence is different to the one that I have recently signed on my new passport, as when I applied for my driving licence I opted to use the data from my passport (which previously used my old signature). Now that I'm 18 I have decided to use a signature which uses my ACTUAL surname and all of my bank cards are now signed with my new signature, it's just my driving licence which contains the old one; I'm worried this might cause problems if I were to go on holiday. Can I change the signature on my driving licence to make it the same as everything else? Sorry if this is quite confusing, would appreciate some help

Is the signature obviously wrong, eg. your legal name and name on the documents is James Smith, but your signature is obviously James Jones? If so that might present an issue, but I am more surprised it was allowed in the first place. 

A signature is more about the act of signing (and agreeing to it) rather than specifically the signature itself.

Otherwise you could sign with whatever you want and then claim it's not your signature and get out of whatever agreement you just signed.