Also known as: material alterations · materially alter · materially altered · materially altering · material change
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A significant change to an instrument, contractual term, or statement that alters the legal rights, obligations, or meaning conveyed to a party. The change must produce surprise or hardship, affect a legal right, or modify the substance of a representation in a way that would not have occurred without the alteration.
Mariam Mansour was scheduled to testify at a public sentencing hearing after witnessing a robbery. The prosecutor asked the court to exclude her from the courtroom during another victim's testimony. The judge found clear and convincing evidence that hearing the prior testimony would change the substance of her account and ordered her exclusion after considering alternatives.
Miranda Morales promised to pay Mason McCarthy an extra sum after an unforeseen regulatory investigation expanded the scope of work. McCarthy hired additional staff and declined other matters in reliance. A court enforced the promise because justice required it given the material change in position.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A newspaper published a quotation attributed to public figure Michael Miller that changed the meaning of his original statement about a policy. Miller sued for defamation. The court held that the deliberate change created a material difference sufficient to support a finding of actual malice.
Mosaic Retail sent an order acknowledgment adding an arbitration clause to Marathon Logistics' offer for goods. Both parties were merchants. Marathon Logistics later claimed the clause caused surprise and hardship. The court treated the clause as a material alteration that did not become part of the contract.
Melanie Morris and Matthew Martinez signed a premarital agreement. After signing, a sudden business failure created substantial hardship for Morris. She asked the court to refuse enforcement of a support-waiver term. The court examined whether the material change in circumstances justified non-enforcement of that term.
Majestic Construction and Maxwell Manufacturing made an oral agreement to modify an earlier written contract. The second agreement was unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds and neither party changed position in reliance. The court held that the prior contract remained unmodified.
Courts ask whether the term would result in surprise or hardship if incorporated without the offeror's express awareness. The party opposing inclusion bears the burden of proving materiality. Certain terms such as warranty disclaimers and arbitration clauses are often treated as per se material in particular jurisdictions.
An alteration is material if it affects a legal right, such as by changing the amount, date, payee, or other terms that alter the instrument's legal effect or the parties' liabilities.
A deliberate alteration supports actual malice only if it produces a material change in the meaning conveyed by the original statement. Trivial or non-substantive changes are insufficient.
A court may refuse to enforce a term if enforcement would cause substantial hardship because of a material change in circumstances arising after the agreement was signed, when viewed in the context of the entire agreement.
…should emerge from experience that, contrary to our expectations, the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule results in a material change in police compliance with the Fourth Amendment, we shall have to reconsider what we have undertaken here. The logic of a decision that rests on untested predictions about police conduct…