Section 14 Delivery and Issuance

• Library: Commercial Law 2007

Delivery of a bill or note is an essential element in the initiation of the instrument and in the transfer of the instrument from the first to succeeding holders. Caviness v. Andes & Roberts Bros. Constr. Co., 508 S.W.2d 253 (Mo. App. W.D. 1974); Tarlton v. Johnson, 138 S.W.2d 49 (Mo. App. S.D. 1940). As a general rule, a negotiable instrument, like any other written undertaking, has no legal origin or valid existence and its execution is not complete until it has been delivered in accordance with the purpose and intent of the parties. Id.; Edmund S. Mills Corp. v. Stinebaker, 67 S.W.2d 821 (Mo. App. E.D. 1934). Until that time, the instrument is incomplete and...