What does forensic document examination primarily verify?

Forensic document examination primarily focuses on verifying whether a document is genuine. This process involves analyzing various aspects of the document, such as handwriting, ink, paper type, and printing techniques, to determine its authenticity. Forensic examiners use specialized methods to detect forgeries, alterations, and counterfeits.

This area of forensic science is critical in numerous contexts, including legal disputes, fraud investigations, and historical document authentication. Establishing the genuineness of a document can help uphold the integrity of signatures or other important elements, which may carry significant legal implications.

Other options do touch on aspects related to documents, but they do not directly address the primary focus of forensic examination. Ownership may be a factor in the context of legal cases, the emotional state of the author pertains to psychological analysis, and the age of the paper falls within material analysis but does not determine authenticity directly. Therefore, while these elements can be relevant, the core objective of forensic document examination is to assess the document's genuineness.