Types

• Amendments are made to contracts by agreement of the signing parties as well as by written documentation. There are three ways a contract can be amended. A clause within the agreement can be completely removed and replaced; a "strikethrough" may be drawn through the incorrect statement within the agreement and the relevant statement added; or a phrase may be added to the contract to describe the necessary changes.
  
  

Significance

• Amending a contract is important to protect the rights of the signing parties. If each party verbally agrees to something that is prohibited in the original contract, an amendment is a method of documenting the agreement to avoid future disputes over the matter.
  
  

Considerations

• A contract can only be amended after it is signed. If a contract is modified before it has been signed, it is not considered an amendment but a part of the original document. Misspellings and typos are reasons to change a contract before it is signed without modifying the entire agreement.