Debtor vs. Creditor on Novation of Debt

An individual, having signed a document acknowledging a debt that was later contested as a mere acknowledgment of a prior obligation rather than a formal novation, appealed a lower court's decision enforcing the debt. The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal, reasoning that the trial court correctly determined, based on its assessment of the facts, that the document signed by the debtor unequivocally expressed the parties' intention to replace the prior obligation with a new one, thus constituting a valid novation, which extinguished the original debt and rendered the appellant liable under the new terms.