LEARN WITH A LAWYER: ALWAYS ASK FOR PERMISSION TO ALTER A DOCUMENT.

Always ask for permission if you correct a document. Now this may sound simple, but I’ve seen this happen all the time in court. The Lawyer will get a probation contract and they will have the prosecutor sign it, their client signs it, and they will have it in front of the judge, and the judge is going to sign it. Then they are walking out and they see they’ve made a mistake, maybe the is fine wrong. Instead of two hundred dollars it was three hundred dollars. In those instances when you are making a modification to a contract, always go back to the people that signed it and tell them you are going to make the modification and have them initial it. That’s going to do a couple different things for you. One, it’s going to build up your credibility. People, Prosecutors, judges are going to know that you take these documents very seriously. That you are doing everything above board, that what might seem a trivial matter to most people, is a serious matter to you. People will respect that, and then if there is ever any doubt about any contract, you’re always going to get the benefit of the doubt. This also translates into your personal life, first if you are ever modifying a contract you need to make sure all parties have agreed to the modification. Even if it’s a trivial matter, even if it’s changing a date on a contract. That may be the crux of a case down the road if there is ever any disagreement in the contract. You don’t want to be the person sitting there saying I modified the contract, and your credibility is in question. Always, even if it’s a minor detail in the contract run it back by the parties, so that everybody is on the same page. You will build your credulity and you will cover yourself if there is ever any question about the contract.