Specifies that parties to a written contract who intend the written contract to be the final statement of their agreement cannot introduce evidence of earlier agreements or others entered into at the same time to change the terms of the final contract.
Permits oral evidence to augment a written contract in certain cases.
The principle that the meaning of a written agreement, in which the parties have expressly stated that it is their complete and final understanding, cannot be contradicted or changed by using prior oral or written statements or agreements as evidence. Exceptions to the rule include situations involving duress, fraud, or mistake. See Berg v. Hudesman. Class
a rule that oral evidence cannot be used to contradict the terms of a written contract
A legal rule of evidence. A court will not allow evidence of oral discussions which purport to modify a written contract.
A rule of evidence providing that a written agreement is the final expression of the agreement of the parties, not to be modified by oral or written negotiations.
states that a contract may not be altered without written consent of both parties (applies to written portion of contract.)
When parties put their agreement in writing under this rule, all previous oral agreements merge in the writing and a contract, as then written, cannot be modified or changed by parol evidence in the absence of a plea of mistake or fraud in the preparation of the writing. But the rule does not forbid a resort to parol evidence that is not inconsistent with the matters stated in the writing. Under this rule, parol or extrinsic evidence is not admissible to add to, subtract or vary from, or contradict judicial or official records or documents, or written instruments which dispose of property or are contractual in nature, and which are valid, complete, unambiguous, and unaffected by accident or mistake.
A rule of courtroom evidence that once the parties make a written contract, they may not then introduce oral agreements or statements to modify the terms of that written agreement. An exception exists for fraud or mistake, which will permit the parties to offer evidence to vary the terms of the writing. Back to the Top
An evidence rule of law which says that oral agreements which modify the subject matter of a written contract will be inadmissible in a court of law for the purpose of contradicting what is written in the contract.
This rule states that a written instrument or contract cannot be modified by an oral agreement. It is based on the concept that written contracts should contain all of the facts and agreements between the parties and, therefore, should not be allowed to be altered orally at some future date.
The meaning of a contract cannot be changed by reference to statements made by the parties to the contract before the contract was formed.
The parol evidence rule enacts a principle of the common law of contracts that presumes that a written contract embodies the complete agreement between the parties involved. The rule therefore generally forbids the introduction of extrinsic evidence (i.e., evidence of communications between the parties which is not contained in the language of the contract itself) which would change the terms of a later written contract.
