Which statement about forgery and uttering is true?

Which statement about forgery and uttering is true?

• A. Forgery is the act of uttering a forged document
• B. Uttering is the making of a false writing
• C. Forgery is making a false writing, which if genuine, would have legal effect
• D. Uttering is signing a forged writing

Answer: (C)

Forgery centers on creating or altering a document with the potential to have legal effect if it were genuine. The statement that forgery is making a false writing, which if genuine would have legal effect, matches this idea precisely. It emphasizes both the act (making a false writing) and the consequence if that writing were real (it would carry legal effect), which is the core feature of forgery. Uttering, by contrast, is about presenting or offering a forged writing as if it were genuine, with the intent to defraud. That’s a separate act from the making or altering of the writing itself. So, the correct understanding is that forgery involves creating a false writing with potential legal impact, not merely uttering a forged document, not merely making, and not merely signing a forged writing.

Forgery centers on creating or altering a document with the potential to have legal effect if it were genuine. The statement that forgery is making a false writing, which if genuine would have legal effect, matches this idea precisely. It emphasizes both the act (making a false writing) and the consequence if that writing were real (it would carry legal effect), which is the core feature of forgery.

Uttering, by contrast, is about presenting or offering a forged writing as if it were genuine, with the intent to defraud. That’s a separate act from the making or altering of the writing itself.

So, the correct understanding is that forgery involves creating a false writing with potential legal impact, not merely uttering a forged document, not merely making, and not merely signing a forged writing.