Forgery is the criminal offense of making or uttering a false document or other instrument with the intent to defraud or harm someone—including a written or printed document, money, coins, tokens, stamps, checks, cashier’s checks, bonds, money orders, traveler’s checks, real property deeds, contracts, stock certificates, lottery tickets, wills, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks, and symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification. Uttering a document means to declare—either directly or indirectly, and through words or actions—that the document is legitimate and what it purports to be.

Forging a document includes altering, making, completing, executing, or authenticating a writing so it purports (1) to be the act of another who did not authorize that act; (2) to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case; or (3) to be a copy of an original when no such original existed.

Forging a document also includes the acts of issuing, transferring, registering the transfer of, recording, passing, publishing, or otherwise uttering a document that is forged. And in some states the mere possession of a forged document with the intent to utter it constitutes forging a document.

The definitions, penalties, and punishments for the crime of forgery vary from state to state and are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Massachusetts, forgery is considered a serious criminal offense under the General Laws, Chapter 267, which deals with crimes involving forgery and counterfeiting. The law defines forgery as the act of falsely making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting a document with the intent to injure or defraud. This includes a wide range of documents such as legal contracts, money, stamps, securities, and other instruments of value. Uttering refers to the act of passing off or using a forged document as genuine, and it is also a criminal offense in Massachusetts. The crime of forgery can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the circumstances and the value of the documents or items involved. Penalties for forgery in Massachusetts can include fines, imprisonment, or both, and the severity of the punishment typically corresponds to the nature of the forgery and the amount of harm or intended harm.