§ 1416

Enacted by Stats. 1965, Ch. 299.

A witness who is not otherwise qualified to testify as an expert may state his opinion whether a writing is in the handwriting of a supposed writer if the court finds that he has personal knowledge of the handwriting of the supposed writer. Such personal knowlegde may be acquired from:

(a)Having seen the supposed writer write;
(b)Having seen a writing purporting to be in the handwriting of the supposed writer and upon which the supposed writer has acted or been charged;
(c)Having received letters in the due course of mail purporting to be from the supposed writer in response to letters duly addressed and mailed by him to the supposed writer; or
(d)Any other means of obtaining personal knowledge of the handwriting of the supposed writer.

Other sections in Article 2 - Means of Authenticating and Proving Writings

This content is for reference, learning, and study purposes only. All legal text should be verified against the official California Legislative Information website, which is the authoritative source for California law. Data last processed: February 13, 2026.