If you signed a contract that seems different from what you accepted, first check what is not in accordance: did you misunderstand an essential element, were misled or coerced, or does the written document conceal a different real agreement? Each situation has distinct conditions and effects. Simple regret after signing does not nullify the contract.

1. The mistake: you misunderstood an essential element

According to articles 1206–1209 of the Civil Code, the error can only justify cancellation under the law. It must concern an essential element for the conclusion of the contract, and the other party must have known or should have known that that element was decisive for you. What was negotiated matters, what is written in the contract, and what information was reasonably accessible at the time of signing count. An error regarding a mere personal reason or a risk you assumed do not automatically lead to annulment.

Ask yourself concretely: what clause did you understand differently, what would you have done if you knew the real situation and what evidence shows that that point was essential for the other party as well?

2. Mistake: you were misled

Fraudulent actions or the intentional concealment of information that should have been communicated led you to enter into the contract. The Civil Code allows for cancellation even when the error caused would not have been the essential element. Fraud is not presumed: the conduct, intent, and connection to the decision to sign must be proven. In certain situations, the conduct of a representative of the other party may also count.

Keep the messages, offers, successive versions of the act, and documents that show what was told to you or what information was hidden. A difference between a verbal promise and the signed text must be analyzed along with the evidence and the circumstances of the negotiation.

3. Violence: you signed under an illegitimate coercion

Violence can vitiate consent when the threat was of such a nature as to cause you justified fear, taking into account the circumstances and your own situation. Not any pressure of negotiation is sufficient. Evaluate who exerted the pressure, what consequences the threat posed, whether it was illegitimate and whether it led you to sign. Note down the dates, the persons present and the communications kept as accurately as possible.

4. Simulation: the public act does not show the real understanding

Simulatio is different from error, deceit, and violence. It involves an apparent act and a secret understanding between the parties, whereby the real situation is intended to be different from that shown in the public document. The secret contract produces, in principle, effects between the parties, under the conditions of Article 1289 et seq. of the Civil Code; the rules regarding third parties in good faith are different. Not every discrepancy between discussions and the contract is a simulation: the common understanding must be proven.

What effect can the cancellation have?

Breaches of consent can, under the law, render the contract invalid. Annulment does not automatically take effect simply because one party invokes it: agreement of the parties or a court decision may be required. If the act is annulled, restitution obligations may arise. The time and moment from which they begin to run depend on the cause and circumstances; for example, the Civil Code provides special rules for violence, error, and deceit. Check the time limit before delaying the proceedings.

Practical steps to take before contesting the act

  • keeps the signed contract, the annexes and all the versions received;
  • saves messages, emails, offers and notes from negotiations;
  • it writes chronologically what you were told, what you understood and what you learned later;
  • do not modify the original documents and do not delete the conversations;
  • requests verification of the legal basis, the evidence, the deadline and the effects on the obligations already executed.

Consult The Civil Code in consolidated form, in particular Articles 1206–1217, 1246 and 1289–1290. For information about legal services, see the page services. An analysis of the act and the negotiations can determine whether the problem lies in error, deceit, violence, simulation, or the interpretation of a clause.