Filling out information

[ManOntheLand]

Thanks for the kind words a.m.!

I am a regular reader of Alfred Adask. He has reported some magical results from using "At Arm's Length" in dealing with arrests and criminal charges, if I recall correctly. I think the power of knowing the distinction between trust name and true name is immense, (regardless of how you express it) and makes the system far less likely to want to deal with you in a public forum, lest you "infect" others with your knowledge.

Having said that, in terms of refuting presumption of liability of the signer of an instrument, I do not personally use "At Arm's Length" but I think it is probably a sufficiently unambiguous way of expressing your intent not to be a surety for the trust name, as long as the LEGAL NAME and true name are both used.
For example:

FIRST M LAST By First Middle, At Arm's Length

This would at least suggest that you are acting in a representative capacity, rather than as a surety for FIRST M LAST. I prefer a more explicit expression of that idea by using a title e.g. "agent", "authorized agent", or "authorized representative":

FIRST M LAST By First Middle, Agent

I think the intention to separate the trust name from true name would be sufficiently expressed if you just wrote: At Arm's Length (signature)

BUT, it is not enough to merely set oneself apart from the trust name, it is also important to refute the presumption that you are signing as a surety (i.e. accepting the liability) for the trust name.


To sign an instrument without accepting liability, the rules in U.C.C. require a named principal, and for the agent who is signing the instrument to indicate the agent's representative capacity. Otherwise, agent will be presumed the liable party, even if a principal is named.
Under those rules, therefore, this signature:

FIRST M LAST, first middle

would be presumed to indicate that first middle is a surety for FIRST M LAST.

But this signature:

FIRST M LAST, by first middle, At Arm's Length

unambiguously refutes the liability of the signer.