Swank v. Kaufman

Citations

• 255 Pa. 316
• 99 A. 1000
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 453

Syllabus

<p>Negotiable instruments — Notes Attestation — Material alterations' — Witness signing after execution.</p> <p>1. The addition of a name as a witness to the signatures of parties to a written instrument, after its execution by them and in their absence without their knowledge or consent, is a material alteration of the writing rendering it inadmissible in evidence; the rule is grounded in public policy, to insure the protection of written instruments from fraud and substitution, and it is not material that the instrument would have been valid if not attested by subscribing witnesses. , ' -</p> <p>2. Where, in an action on a judgment note signed by a principal and two sureties and attested by subscribing witnesses, the sureties denied that they executed the note, and it appeared that at the request of the principal obligor, one of the witnesses had signed the note in the absence of the alleged sureties and without their knowledge and consent, the court, the jury having disagreed, properly entered judgment for defendant sureties n. o. v.</p>