[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo sexto ad Sabinum. ] §46.2.1.prNouatio est prioris debiti in aliam obligationem uel ciuilem uel naturalem transfusio atque translatio, hoc est cum ex praecedenti causa ita noua constituatur, ut prior perematur.
[ULPIANUS, in the forty-sixth book on Sabinus.] Novation is the transfer and transmission of a prior debt into another obligation, whether civil or natural, that is, when a new obligation is so established from a preceding cause that the prior one is extinguished.
nouatio enim a nouo nomen accepit et a noua obligatione. §46.2.1.1Illud non interest, qualis processit obligatio, utrum naturalis an ciuilis an honoraria, et utrum uerbis an re an consensu: qualiscumque igitur obligatio sit, quae praecessit, nouari uerbis potest, dummodo sequens obligatio aut ciuiliter teneat aut naturaliter: ut puta si pupillus sine tutoris auctoritate promiserit.
For novation received its name from "new" and from a "new obligation." It does not matter what kind of obligation preceded, whether natural, civil, or honorary, and whether by words, by thing, or by consent: therefore, whatever kind of obligation it was that preceded, it can be novated by words, provided that the subsequent obligation binds either civilly or naturally: as, for example, if a ward has promised without the authority of his tutor.