Legal Term: ALTERATION

Definition: An act done upon an instrument in writing by a party entitled under it, without the consent of the other party, by which its meaning or language is changed, it imports some fraud or design on the part of him who made it. This differs from spoliation, which is the mutilation of the instrument by the act of a stranger.

2. When an alteration has a tendency to mislead, by so changing the character of the instrument, it renders it void, but if the change has not such tendency, it will not be considered an alteration. 1 Greenl. Ev. 566.

3. A spoliation, on the contrary, will not affect the legal character of the instrument, so long as the original writing remains legible, and, if it be a deed, any trace of the seal remains. 1 Greenl. Ev.566. See Spoliation.

Return to the Legalnut.com Law Dictionary