The possibility to change the destination of a payment

The Supreme Court dealt with the question, whether it is possible to belatedly change the destination of a payment after having paid another concrete debt already.

In the case of this trial, the debtor had to settle several accounts. Some were paid and he used concrete numbers of the bills as reason for transfer. Afterwards he sent a letter, explaining that some mistakes appeared and that he actually intended to settle another payment.

The Supreme Court decided, that such additional changes of reason for transfer are not possible. The debtor settled one concrete debt by payment, which cannot be changed with a later order.

The decision was made according to the nullified commercial code, but its validity remains unmodified regarding to the new civil law code (§1933).