Is it legal to enter into a contract using an "assumed name" or
"alias" with NO intent to commit fraud?

I have a friend who wants to join a local community group that I'm a
part of. This person is very conscious of their privacy, and doesn't
like to use their legal given name unless absolutely necessary. Our
self-proclaimed "lawyer" in the group claims that we must insist that
all members use their real names or the application is null and void
legally.

The organization is set up so that members pay a fee at the beginning
of each year to recieve a share of vegetables that are delivered by a
local farmer. Each member signs a sheet that says that they understand
they will get vegetables each week and that they must pick up the
vegetables or they will lose them.

It seems that I've heard somewhere that it's okay to use an assumed
name, or alias as long as your intent isn't to commit fraud. i.e. I
can use my nickname of "Matt" instead of "Matthew" to sign up for
things. The question is, can I use the name "Bob" to sign for
something, if I represent myself as "Bob"?

I'm looking for any kind of information that might help me to
determine if it is indeed a legal problem if we allow people to sign
our "contract" using a non-legal name. Would this still be an
"enforcable" contract if we had to go to court? (don't ask me why in
the world we would go to court over vegetables, but...)

From what I have read recently and I feel this mainly relates to
marriage based name changes. You are allowed to use ANY name you so
desire, without intent to commit fraud, IF that name is to be your
permanent name at all times.

If you can prove that the person signed the paper and it his copy of
the "Mickey Mouse" signature (take a pic of them signing it perhaps)
then this may have more weight. Please do not take this as the
definitive answer.

--Keystroke-ga

Does the group record ID when someone joins?  Are there bylaws that
require this?  If not  - even if ID is presented for identification - 
I suspect that a member's using an alias would not upset the legality
of the group.  (He or she could have presented ID in the name of the
alias.)
The person personally might be open to some sort of charge by the
organization if the person did not pay bills or breached the bylaws in
some other way, but if not, it would seem to me to be a personal
matter if the individual.

OF COURSE, this is no legal or professional advice.

This becomes a problem if/when there is argument about the contract.
The use of an alias or other false name might be able to be used as
evidence against the signer.

At this point there are no bylaws in our group that requires people to
use their legal names. However, one of our volunteer members is a
lawyer and is telling us that we should require people's legal names
so that the contract can't be thrown out. The whole question came
about when a local community member, who goes by the name X commonly,
signed up for the group and put his nickname instead of his "legal"
name. We all know him by his nick name, and each week he signs for his
vegetable pick-ups using said nickname. He consistantly represents
himself as X and isn't trying to commit fraud, just is sensitive about
his privacy.

It just seems laughable to me that a judge would declare the contract
not binding just because he isn't using his legal name. We don't check
anyone's ID's in the group but just assume they are how they represent
themselves.

If he signs the contract as X, pays as X, gets a reciept as X, and
signs every week for his veggie pick-up as X, then if he were to "sue"
us (God only knows why anyone would sue our community group over $10
worth of vegetables but...) wouldn't it still be a binding contract?

My bank for example lets me use a nickname on my checks, isn't that
also a "contract"?

Thanks for the responses.

Actually, it seems that if he were to sue us he would have to do so as
X if he were to try and hold us to said contract. If he sued us as
Legal Name he'd have no basis for any claims because he wouldn't have
any reciept, contract, nothing that relates to "Legal Name" at all.

It does seem like if we were to initiate a suit against this person
that we may need to prove that X was indeed Legal Name. But I think
that would be easy to do since we all know each other, and see each
other every week at our community group meetings and vegetable
pick-ups.

The contract basically reads:

If you don't pick up your vegetables, you lose them.
By signing up you agree to volunteer for 3 hours this year.
Your fee is non-refundable.
If you don't pay, you don't get veggies.

IANAL, but I would guess that if you sign a contract with a bogus
name, it would be voidable by the other party(ies) but not by you. 
The law on contracts and such usually makes sense, in my experience,
and this makes sense to me.

Your friends sounds like a nut job.  Does he live in a cave in Montana
with no modern accoutrements?  I think the organization is right. 
Privacy is a good thing, but someone who is that paranoid has
something bad to hide.

Yes, it is legal.  Otherwise people would sign contracts with assumed
or false names in order to get out of performing the contract.

His behaviour seems a bit odd

However, you all seem to like and trust him, so you might as well indulge him

A small sealed affadavit that: 
  Fatso(2) on the doc is the agreed signature of John P Whatever 
should be enough to satisfy his strange request, and cover minor disputes.

Actually, just a few people signing something else saying that they
witnessed John P Whatever agreeing in good faith and signing as
'Fatso' would cover things.

USA laws are pretty similar to UK laws, and contractual intent (or the
appearance) is rather important.