Cancellation is the act of destroying a document by making lines through it, tearing it up, or defacing it with the intention of rendering it void. In contract law, cancellation happens when a party to a contract ends the contract due to the other party’s breach. Although cancellation and recission are similar, recission is a general undoing of a contract or agreement (sometimes used when there is fraud or mutual mistake) whereas cancellation is a more formal nullification of a legal obligation.
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]