RECEIPT (Lat. receptum, received ; through Fr. receit). A written acknowledgment of payment of money or delivery of chattels.
2. It is executed by the person to whom the delivery or payment is made, and may be used as evidence against him, on the general principle which allows the admission or de claration of a party to be given in evidence against himself. _As an instrument of evi dence, the receipt of one person is, in general, inoperative against another, although often useful as a vouches in the private settlement of accounts ; and the statutes of some states make receipts for small payments made by executors, ctn. evidence of the payment on a settlement of their accounts. And receipts of public officers are sometimes admissible per se. 1 Ill. 45. It is essential to a receipt that it acknowledge the payment or de livery referred to. Russ. & R. Cr. Cas. 227; 7 Carr. & P. 549. And under the stamp laws a delivery or payment must be stated. 1 Esp. 426 ; 1 Caropb. 499. Also the receipt must, from the nature of the case, be in wntr ing, and must be delivered to the debtor ; for a memorandum of payment made by tbe cre ditor in his own books is no receipt. 3 Dowl, & R. 332 ; 2 Barnew. & Ald. 501, n.; 11 Lona. Jur. 806 ; 1 East, 460 ; 1 Speers, So. C. 53.
3. Receipts, effect of: The mere acknow ledgment of payment made is not treated in law as binding or conclusive in any high degree. So far as a simple acknowledgment of pay ment or delivery is concerned, it is presumptr ive evidence only, 1 Pet. C. C. 182 ; 1 Rich. So. C . 32 ; 1 Harr. Del. 5 ; 3 id. 317 ; 4 id. 206; 7 Cow. N. Y. 334; 16 Wend. N. Y. 460; 16 Me. 475; 5 Ark. 61 ; 11 Mass.27, 363 ; 3 McLean, C. C. 265 ; 6 B. Monr. Ky. 199 ; 2 Johns. CRS. N. Y. 438 ; 1 Perr. & D. 437 ; 3 Barnew. &C. 421 ; 8 Gill, Md. 179 ; 3 Jones, No. C. 501, and is, in general, open to explanation, 2 Johns. N. Y. 378 ; 9 id. 310 ; 6 Ala. 811 ; 8 Ala. N. s. 59 ; 4 Vt. 308 ; 21 id. 222; 3 McLean, C. C. 387 ; 4 Barb. N. Y. 265 ; 5 Du. N. Y. 294 ; 5 J. J. Marsh. Ky. 79 ; 5 Mich. 171; being an exception to the general rule that parol evidence cannot be admitted to contradict or vary a written instrument. 5 Johns. N. Y. 68 ; 2 Metc. Mass. 283. Thus, a party may always show, in explanation of a receipt limited to such acknowledgment, the actual circumstances under which it was made, 8 Johns. N. Y. 389 : e.g. that it was obtained by fraud, Wright, Ohio, 764; 4 Harr. & M'H. Md. 219, or giveii under a mis
take, 6 Barb. N. Y. 58 ; 3 Dan. Ky. 427, or that, in point of fact, no money was actually paid as stated in it. 2 Strobh. So. C. 390 ; 3 lg. Y. 168; 10 Vt. 96. But see 1 J. J. Marsh. Ky. 583.
4. Receipts "in full." When, however, we find a receipt acknowledging payment " io full" of a specified debt, or " in full of all accounts" or of " all demands," the in strument is of a much higher and more con clusive character. It does not, indeed, like a rclease, operate upon the demand itself. ex tinguishing it by any force or virtue in the receipt, but it is evidence of a compromise and mutual settlement of the rights of the parties. The law infers from such acknow ledgment an adjustment of the amount due, after consideration of the claims of each party, and a payment of the specified sum as a final satisfaction. 10 Vt. 491 ; 2 Dev. No. C. 247 ; Wright, Ohio, 764 ; 21 N. H. 85. This compromise thus shown by the receipt will often operate to extinguish a demand, although the creditor may be able to show he did not receive all that he justly ought.
See ACCORD AND SATISFACTION. If the rights of aterty are doubtful. are honestly contested, and time is given to allow hiin to satisfy himself, a receipt in full, though given for less than his just rights, will not be set aside. Thus, in general, a receipt in full is conclusive when given with a knowledge of the circum stances, and when the party giving it cannot complain of any misapprehension as to the compromise he was making, or of any fraud. 5 Vt. 520 ; 1 Esp. 173 ; 1 Campb. 392 ; 2 Strebh. So. C. 203. But receipts of this cha racter are not wholly exempt from explana tion : fraud or misrepresentation may be proved, and so may such mistake as enters into and vitiates the compromise of the de mand admitted. Brayt. Vt. 75 ; 1 Campb. 394; Coxe, N. J. 48; 2 Brev. No. C. 223 ; 4 Harr. & M'II. Md. 219 ; 4 Barb. N. Y. 265 ; 1 Edw. Ch. N. Y. 101,427 ; 2 Harr. Del. 392 ; 2 Carr. & P. 44. The evidence in explanation must be clear and full, and addressed to the point that there was not in fact an intended and valid compromise of the demand. For if the compromise was not binding the re ceipt in full will not aid it. The receipt only operates as evidence of a comprotnise which extinguished the claim. 26 Me. 88 ; 4 Den. N. Y. 166; 2 M'Cord, So. C. 320 ; 4 Wash.