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 Vermont, forgery is defined under Vermont Statutes Title 13, Chapter 47, which encompasses the creation, alteration, or use of false documents with the intent to defraud. This includes making or altering documents to appear as if they were made by someone else, to seem as though they were executed at a different time or place, or to represent a copy of a non-existent original. The act of uttering refers to presenting or using a forged document as genuine. Vermont law also recognizes the possession of a forged document with the intent to defraud as a component of the offense. Penalties for forgery in Vermont can vary based on the nature of the forged document and the circumstances of the offense, but they generally include fines, imprisonment, or both. Specific sentencing guidelines and classifications of forgery offenses are detailed in the state's penal code, and an attorney can provide more detailed information about potential punishments for forgery in Vermont.