§ 1862.Written Words Control Over Inconsistent Printed Form

Many instruments combine a preprinted form with blanks the parties fill in by hand or by typewriter, and this section resolves the conflict when those two parts do not line up. The words the parties themselves added, rather than the boilerplate printed in advance, control whenever the two are inconsistent.

The reasoning tracks ordinary expectation: printed form language is drafted in advance for general use, while the written additions reflect what these particular parties chose to say about their own deal. Giving the written words priority keeps the instrument's meaning tied to the parties' actual choices rather than to language they may not have focused on at all.