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If you agreed on a form, doing it another way leaves the act with no validity

Last reviewed: September 12, 2026 — VerifiedPoder Judicial

In short

Article 277 separates three situations people mix up. The first is the most common and the freest: when the law designates no form for carrying out a juridical act, one may use whatever form is considered convenient. The second is the surprising one: when the parties have agreed that a given act will be formalised in a given way, the act has no validity if it is done in a different way. That is, the agreement about form becomes binding, and the article sanctions it not as an ordinary breach but with lack of validity. If you agreed to go to a notary and then signed a paper at the kitchen table, that falls here. The third is the classic: if the law imposes a given form for an act’s validity, non-observance produces nullity. Article 278 modernises what counts as written, and does so in two very broad sentences. The first: a written manifestation of will may be made on any medium or support, in any language or alphabet, even if technical means are needed to understand it. The second: oral expression recorded on any support is considered written expression. A text message, a file, a document in English or a voice recording fit that definition as drafted. What the article does not regulate is the signature, authenticity or evidentiary value, which live in the following articles.

External link

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What is it?

They are Articles 277 and 278 of the Civil Code of 2020: what form the law demands of a juridical act and what counts as a written manifestation.

Who can do it?

Anyone about to close a deal unsure whether a deed, paper, message or nothing at all is needed.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: See whether the law imposes a form

    Article 277: if the law imposes a form for validity, non-observance produces nullity.

  2. Step 2: See whether you agreed on one

    Same article: if you agreed on a way to formalise it, doing it otherwise leaves it invalid.

  3. Step 3: With neither, you are free

    When the law designates no form, one may use whatever is considered convenient.

  4. Step 4: The support does not matter

    Article 278: a written manifestation may be made on any medium or support.

  5. Step 5: Nor does the language

    The same paragraph admits any language or alphabet, even if a technical means is needed to read it.

  6. Step 6: A recording counts as writing

    Article 278: oral expression recorded on any support is considered written expression.

Where to do it

These two articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code does not list here the acts on which the law imposes a form: each says so where it is regulated. It does not define what a convenient form is. It does not say whether the parties may later undo the form they themselves agreed. It does not say how a recording is shown to be genuine or who pays for the technical means that may be needed. And it says nothing about evidentiary value, which is the matter of Articles 279 to 284. The five contracts that must be in writing for evidentiary purposes are in Articles 1244 to 1246 of Book Five, covered separately on this site. None of those gaps is filled here.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

The trap in this area is not what the law demands but what you agreed. Almost everyone knows there are acts the law requires be done a certain way, and that skipping that produces nullity. Far fewer people know what Article 277’s middle paragraph says: if the parties agreed the act would be formalised in a given way, the act has no validity if it is done differently. That sentence turns a procedural agreement into a validity requirement. If you wrote that it would be signed before a notary, or in a document signed by both, or with witnesses, and then closed it some other way, the article does not say there is a breach: it says it does not hold. Worth reading before improvising out of haste. On the other side, Article 278 is more generous than people assume. A written manifestation does not require paper: any medium or support will do, in any language or alphabet, even if a technical means is needed to read it. And oral expression recorded on any support is considered written expression, so a recording is not a substitute for a document but, for this article, a form of document. What the article does not do is tell you that suffices to prove anything, or that the signature is surplus. Evidentiary value, the acknowledged signature and the certain date are the following articles, and they are the ones that decide whether your document serves you against a third party. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting the form you yourselves agreed: doing it another way leaves the act invalid.
  • Treating that agreement on form as a detail: Article 277 sanctions it with lack of validity.
  • Believing every act needs a public deed: only when the law imposes it or the parties agree it.
  • Dismissing an agreement for living in a message: Article 278 admits any medium or support.
  • Dismissing it for being in English: the same article admits any language or alphabet.
  • Believing a recording does not count: recorded oral expression is considered written expression.
  • Confusing form with proof: evidentiary value is Articles 279 to 284.
  • Looking in these articles for the list of acts with an imposed form: they give none.

Frequently asked questions

We agreed on a notary and signed by hand. Does it hold?

Article 277 says that if the parties agreed a way to formalise it, the act has no validity if done differently.

Does an agreement by text message hold?

Article 278 admits a written manifestation on any medium or support, with no paper required.

Does a voice recording count as writing?

Article 278 says oral expression recorded on any support is considered written expression.

What if the contract is in another language?

The same article admits any language or alphabet, even if technical means are needed to understand it.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 12, 2026

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