What is the origin of the custom of writing numbers in legal documents as “one (1)”? Under what circumstances could the lack of both numerals lead to a problem?
I assume (IANAL) it is just for clarity: Nobody can dispute you meant twenty-three (23) cases of rum, even if some moron in the steno pool made it `tventy-tree (23)’. Plus, numbers may have special weight in some circumstances, but don’t quote me on that.
You know lawyers, they always try hard to make sure that things are stated in no uncertain terms, so they build in redundancy. What I want to know is why they always have to capitalize all the number words, which normally are lower case—e.g. One Hundred Thirty-Two Dollars and Forty-Seven Cents ($132.47).
In Chinese they have special numerals used for writing on commercial paper (like checks). The regular numeral characters are quite simple, with few strokes. The alternate numeral characters are complex with many strokes, to prevent alteration. For example, the Chinese numeral one is a single horizontal like, like this: —
Two uses 2 horizontal strokes, like this: =
Three uses 3 strokes.
If you write somebody a check for a hundred yuan, what’s to stop them from altering it with another stroke or two, doubling or tripling the amount? The answer is to use the special complex characters that can’t be altered to look like any other numeral.
IAAL, and I delete that crap every time I see it in a document somebody else has written for me. Where it came from, I have no idea, but there’s certainly no legal requirement for it, and no benefit to doing it either. As long as the number is correct–whether spelled out or in numerals–you’re fine.
I’d always assumed it was a double-check, so if somebody drops a zero when writing out a numeral, some party to the contract can’t demand two and a half million bucks worth of something for a quarter million dollars.
But of course, just because you’re doing it twice, it makes it much more likely that you will end up with an inconsistency between the words and the numbers. That pretty much kills any benefit you’d gain from enforced redundancy. Just proofread the damn thing, people. 
It’s my understanding that it’s a protection device, from the days before typewriting… that “th^r~~ dol~ & fi~~~ c~” was actually $13.50, not $30.15 or any other combination that might be read into that – and on the other hand, that someone didn’t just push a “1” in front of the numeric value to make it $113.50. But, as minty noted, it has no legal significance – just “belt and suspenders.”
I agree, minty, but I’ve seen whopper boo-boos in contracts before (none that I know of made it to execution without correction); and the advent of the word processor didn’t help.
A while back in Indianapolis, a woman accidentally overdosed her small child with a prescription drug. The mother had not yet learned much English. The label said to give the medicine “once a day.” Once is the Spanish word for “eleven,” and that’s how many doses the mother gave her child.
The child survived, the mother was acquitted, and the standard procedure for label writing was changed.
I don’t know about that AskNott, your story is probably true but the practice of writing “One(1)” goes back decades if not centuries.
Haj
I use it when writing orders for items described by size
i.e. : A (1) 9" x 27-5/16" panel can’t be mistaken for a 19"x 27-5/16" panel
AskNott, that story about the prescription sounds familiar. Hmmm, wasn’t it a storyline in ER once…
No one has mentioned an important issue: it makes alteration more difficult.
If, say, you write a check for $30, someone can easily change the 3 to an 8. By having the sum written out, you gain some protection.
If the two numbers don’t match – even if its a typo – someone will need to explain the discrepancy. If, however, you only have a numeral, you’re stuck with what it says, even if it’s an error.
Outside of legal contracts, it’s unnecessary, but when dealing with money, you’re much better off with the redundancy.
I always thought it came the other way round - people would write a digit: “1” and then to clarify, would confirm it: “(one)”. But that would just be a theory.
About a year ago, when I sold my house, I had to go through many offers and counteroffers written on standard forms full of notes and alterations and I soon got tired of that and decided to write my own sales contract. In the age of word processors realtors continue to use standard forms all patched up. It makes no sense. Anyway, I wrote my own contract just by taking what was needed from the standard contract and amending it as needed. My realtor was very upset saying he did not understand the need, it was the first time he had ever had a client do this etc. Still, I insisted and got my way. I sold the house with a neatly written contract with no alterations and printed in the form of a small booklet (letter size folded in half) which is more convenient than the 14" legal size.
So, regarding the numbers I did write them as “one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000)” and this was my reason: There were many offers and counteroffers written and they all had quite a few numbers and each one had to be read several times. It is much easier to read the Arabic numerals and do the math than it is to read the text. You can try it easily. Take a text which says the price is X, the mortgage is Y, the downpayment is Z, the rent the seller will pay for the three months he will remain in the house is R, the allowance for insurance is V etc. Now try to do some math in your head. If you have the figures it is much easier. If you do not then you end up writing them on paper so you can compare them. So, arabic numerals are just way more convenient. OTOH, they are easier to forge or to misunderstand so the written words are there to prevent any ambiguity. That is the way it is in checks and other instruments. generally you would just look at the figures but if you have any doubt then you would look at the text. But if checks only had the words they would be much more difficult to process. Imagine having to add up the amounts of 100 checks if the amounts were only written in text.
I always thought it was for clarity for non-english speakers; the words are different but the numerals are the same.
Two = 2
Dos = 2
Due = 2
I don’t know if this makes sense in the rest of the country, but I grew up in a small, agricultural town in california that was about 50/50 white/migrant Mexican families. It seemed helpful.
Peace,
~mixie
Well, not being an attorney but having learned at the knees of several, my understanding is there is legal significance, at least in my jurisdiction, and that the letters predominate. A document reading "Two-Hundred Fifty Thousand ($25,000.00) would be interpreted by the courts of Wisconsin as meaning two hundred fifty thousand, not twenty-five thousand. The presumption is that the error is in the numbers, not the letters. YMMV.