Can a contract be changed by email?

Sometimes, but many contracts contain a clause requiring variations to be in writing and signed. Where they do, an informal exchange may not be effective, which is what this document is for.

Should the whole contract be restated instead?

Where there have been several changes, an amended and restated version is often clearer than a chain of amendments. Both approaches are common; the choice is practical.

Do guarantors need to agree to an amendment?

Often yes. Changing the underlying obligation can affect a guarantor's position, so agreements of this kind commonly include their consent rather than risking the security.

Deal papers and endings

Amendment agreement

The paper used to change a contract that is already running. It identifies the original agreement precisely, names the clauses being changed and sets out their new wording, states the date the change takes effect, and confirms that everything else continues unchanged. Many contracts require variations to be in writing and signed, and where they do, an exchange of emails may not be enough — which is the usual reason this document exists.

In the catalogue: Deal papers and endings
Where it can live: Any of the 184 governing laws

Who uses one

Parties extending a term, changing a price or adjusting a scope.
Companies updating an old agreement rather than replacing it.
Anyone whose contract says changes must be in writing and signed.

What you are deciding

Which agreement is being amended, identified by date and parties
Which clauses change, and what they now say
Whether anything is being added or deleted
The date the change takes effect
Whether the change is retrospective
That everything else continues unchanged
Whether anybody else has to consent, such as a guarantor

Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.

The sections a draft usually has

1The parties and the original agreement
2Background
3The amendments
4Effective date
5Everything else unchanged
6Third-party consents
7Counterparts and signature
8Governing law

A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.

What people call it

The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.

amendment agreement
contract amendment
variation agreement
addendum to contract
deed of variation
change agreement

Questions people ask

Can a contract be changed by email?: Sometimes, but many contracts contain a clause requiring variations to be in writing and signed. Where they do, an informal exchange may not be effective, which is what this document is for.
Should the whole contract be restated instead?: Where there have been several changes, an amended and restated version is often clearer than a chain of amendments. Both approaches are common; the choice is practical.
Do guarantors need to agree to an amendment?: Often yes. Changing the underlying obligation can affect a guarantor's position, so agreements of this kind commonly include their consent rather than risking the security.

General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.

Where it lives

A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.

You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.

Start it at the door →

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