A novation is a mutual agreement among all concerned parties to substitute a new contract in place of a valid existing agreement. A novation may be accomplished by a substitution of another for one of the parties to the contract, or substitution of the performance to be made under the contract. The effect of a novation that substitutes one party for another is to bind the substituted party to all the terms of the original contract to the same extent as the original party so that the discharged party may not sue or be sued on the original contract. A novation that substitutes one contract for another destroys the original contract.
If a party to a contract has certain duties to perform under that contract and then transfers these duties to another person who is to perform them, there is a delegation of duties.
