A contract is a legal document that states and clarifies a formal agreement between two different people or groups. This implies that an agreement between parties must have a strong backing by law. The following are therefore required for a contract to be mandatory for all participants involved. These elements in a contract prove whether the contract is regarded credible or not credible: The objective is to build a legal relationship, offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity to contract and legality.
This is a clear expression of a party accepting agreement to the terms of the offer.
The "something of value" may be either something that the person actually hands over (that they would not otherwise be obligated to hand over) or some right that they give up (that they would otherwise have been entitled to exercise). For example, if you agree to buy a car for cash, you agree to deliver cash to the seller, and the seller agrees to deliver the car to you. In that situation, there is legal consideration, or sufficient value, for the agreement to be enforceable. Another example is a mutual release of claims. Suppose you accidentally hit a parked car, and you agree to pay the owner of the car £500 in cash to settle. In that case, you agree to deliver cash to the owner of the car, and the owner agrees that he or she will not file a lawsuit against you. (In such a situation, always get a written release of liability, or "release," from the owner of the car to prove that you have settled up.) The consideration from your side is the cash, and the consideration from the owner's side is that he or she gave up the right to sue you for the damages. Although the owner didn't give up anything physical, there is consideration to support the agreement because the owner gave up a legal right. Source: (http://onlinelegalforms.com/legalforms/freedraftingtips.html#consideration) Dunlop v Selfridges (1915) Hol. Defined consideration as ‘An act or forbearance of one party or, the promise thereof, is the price
In BROGDEN v METROPOLITAN RAIL CO it was held the railway company had accepted by placing orders since the amendment of the document, and in TRENTHAM LTD v ARCHITAL LUXFER the court used the 'reasonable man' to identify whether or not there has been acceptance. Both cases seemed to have reasonable outcomes; therefore the courts had been provided with satisfactory rules to help them reach a appropriate verdict. There are various different rules regarding acceptance. There must be a communication of acceptance from the offeree to the offeror. The case of YATES BUILDING v PULLEYN deals whether there had been a prescribed acceptance or not. It was held that there was no practical difference to the offeror therefore the acceptance method was binding. However in the case of ENTORES LTD v MILES FAR EAST CORPORATION there was no prescribed acceptance, yet it was held that the contract was formed in England as that was there acceptance had been received by telex. Other rules that can be used to decide whether there has been acceptance include a waiver of communication of acceptance; silence, which isn't a valid acceptance; ignorance, generally there isn't a binding contract; and acceptance via post using the postal rule. The postal rule can often be misused, as it states that a contract has been formed as
A contract is a legally obligatory promise or set of promises (Bagley, C. 2013). If this promise is broken, either party involved can be legally responsible and take the other party to court. There are four basic elements in the creation of a valid contract. The first consist of an agreement between the parties involved, by an presented offer and acceptance. The second states that the parties’ promises must be supported by something of worth, known as consideration. The third advises both parties must have the ability to enter into a contract. The fourth element states the contract must have a legal purpose (Bagley, C 2013).
Contractual agreement has always been viewed in terms of offer and acceptance. The universal principle to contract law has always been parties may get into an agreement in whichever way they deem fit and they are subject to certain terms as they choose. As far as legal requirements vital to their formation are binding contracts may be formed. Moreover a binding agreement may be manifested in terms of writing or in verbal form.
Contracts are an important part of everyday life. They are an essential part of business. As a student of a business law class, I will discuss in this paper several aspects of contracts. This paper will give a definition of a contract and the essential elements necessary to form a valid contract. It will briefly discuss breach of contract and the difference between a material breach and a nonmaterial breach of contract. Examples of legal and equitable remedies available for breach of contracts will be highlighted. Also, legal excuses for nonperformance or other grounds for discharge of contracts will be addressed. Finally, three types of common contracts personally and professionally encountered will be mentioned.
‘Acceptance is a definite and unqualified assent to an offer, on all of its terms. Any acceptance given conditionally will not result in a legally binding agreement.’
A contract is an exchange of promises or a promise in exchange for performance, for breach of which the law gives a remedy, per Restatement 2nd of Contracts §1. For the contract to be valid there has to be mutual assent, parties mutually agree upon the same specific thing. Per Restatement 2nd of Contracts §54, there are two types of contracts: unilateral, where acceptance is by performance, and bilateral, where there is an exchange of mutual promises and both of the parties have the rights and duties.
The four elements of a valid contract are offer and acceptance, meeting of the minds, consideration and competent parties. The contract must cover a legal purpose or objective as well (Binder, 2012). The objective theory of contracts holds that contract formation is dependent on what is communicated, rather than what is thought by one of the parties (Barnes, 2008).
As stated in the Gould Commercial Code Section 2-207 subsection 1, “A definite and seasonable expression of acceptance or a written confirmation which is sent within a reasonable time operates as an acceptance even though it states terms additional to or different from those offered or agreed upon, unless acceptance is expressly made conditional on assent to
The last requirement of a valid contract is that its provisions be legal. If a
There are three main elements for the formation of a legally binding contract, intention, agreement and consideration. The requirement that requires discussion here is the existence of an agreement by the parties to enter into a legally binding contract.
In the article “Consideration - in Acceptance of Contract”, this support Robert’s (2015) evidence that if an act is performed then a subsequent promise to pay by reference to that act is not enforceable as the consideration was past. Other that, he also noted that if there was an implication; the past promise to pay is enforceable.
Acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of consent to the terms of an offer. An offer may only be accepted by the person to whom it is made unless an agent is authorized to accept on behalf of that person. In addition, an acceptance must be made in the manner requested or authorized by the offering party. If the party to whom the offer is made