2. Obtain the a copy of
the veterinary bill submitted by Sheila Anderson for her cat "Leo"
to her insurance company. The insurance company has asked you, the document
examiner, your opinion as to the authenticity of this bill.
- Do you think the insurance company
should pay this bill? Why or why not?
- Note anything about the bill
that seems questionable.
3. Jennifer Lane is an elderly
woman in relatively good health. She hired a housekeeper, Mary Johnson,
to work for three days a week. Mary cooked, cleaned, and generally assisted
Mrs. Lane. Mary worked for Mrs. Lane for about one year. Shortly thereafter,
Mrs. Lane got a bank statement and noticed that two unexpected checks
had cleared the bank. These checks were both made payable to and were
cashed by Mary.
Mrs. Lane says that the only time
she ever gave Mary a check as a gift was a $20.00 check at Christmas.
Therefore, she is sure that she did not write these checks. She did
admit, however, that she often gave signed checks to Mary for purchases
of prescriptions or groceries. She usually made them for an even amount,
slightly more than the the purchase price and Mary would bring her the
change. Once, she acknowledged, she had signed a blank check and gave
it to Mary for a purchase.
The bank wants to know whether
Mrs. Lane signed the two check to Mary. Obtain copies of the genuine
checks for comparison purposes.
- Did Mrs. Lane write the checks
to Mary?
- List anything you have noticed
that would be of interest to the bank.
4. John Tyler died unexpectedly
in a car accident on November 5, 2001. He was survived by his wife,
Sharon, and a grown daughter, Michelle, from a previous marriage. John
and Sharon had been married for almost twelve years. It was common knowledge
that at the time of his death, Mr. Tyler and his wife had been having
marital problems and were seeing a marriage counselor.
Several years prior to his death,
John had signed a will. According to Sharon, he gave her a copy of the
will and told her that the original was in a safe deposit box that he
shared with his sister, Jennifer.
Sharon asked Jennifer to go get
her will from the safe deposit box and give it to Sharon's attorney
so that it could be filed for probate. However, when the attorney received
the "original" will, it was different from the copy of the
will that John supposedly had given to Sharon. In this will, Jennifer
was the primary beneficiary. Jennifer said that her brother was already
having marital problems in 1999 and had told her that he did not want
Sharon to have anything from his estate.
Meanwhile John's brother Martin
also filed an "original" will. He said that when the will
was signed, John left the original with him. He also said that John
did not want Sharon to inherit anything from him and had asked that
he look after Michelle, John's daughter.
You will receive 3 wills. Determine
which will was submitted by the wife, the brother and the sister. List
the evidence you find that indicates which will(s) is/are genuine and
which is/are not. Look at:
- weight and brightness of the
paper--use various light sources. What are watermarks?
- signatures
- beneficiaries
