Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
validity of oral contracts: oral or written? |
if there is not a statute requiring writing, contract can be oral or written |
|
statute of fraud |
statute that in order to prevent fraud, requires certain types of contracts to be written in order to be enforceable or binding
|
|
agreement that can't be performed within a year after the contract is made |
it has to be in writing in order to be enforceable according to the statute of frauds
when no specific time is set and can be completed within one year, statute of frauds does no apply to the oral agreement |
|
oral extension of contract |
a written contract may have an oral extention but must be proved by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence
|
|
agreement to sell or a sale of an interest in land |
all contracts to sell land, buildings or interest in land like mortgages must be in writing
under part performance, an oral contract of the sale of land is enforceable if the buyer bought in an oral contract and made inprovements |
|
suretyship |
when a third person promises to pay someones debt
collateral or secondary promise: third person pays someones debt only when he does not pay. this promise must be in writing |
|
Hoe must suretyship be: oral or written? |
suretyship must be in writing to be enforceable |
|
exception for written suretyship |
when someone promise to pay another's debt just to benefit himself, the oral agreement is binding
|
|
personal representative |
administrator or executor who handles the deceased person's affairs.
if offers to pay with own money, needs a writing contract to be enforceable |
|
executor, executrix |
person named in will to administer the estate of the decedent
|
|
administrator, administratix |
person who winds up and settle the estate of a person who died without a will
|
|
decedent |
person whose estate is being administered
|
|
promise made in consideration of marriage |
promise to pay money or give property to another under consideration of marriage has to be in writing
|
|
When sale of goods has to be in writing? |
contracts to sell goods at $500 or more should be in writing
|
|
promissory estoppel |
statute of frauds may be circumvented when one party rpoves an enhanced promissory estoppel
an enhanced level of reasonable reliance is necesarry in order to have enhanced promissory estoppel, along with proof of unconscionable injury or unjust enrichment |
|
note of memorandum |
a note or memorandum signed by both parties is needed to evidence those contracts that come within its scope
|
|
signing |
the note or memorandum must be signed by the party that seeks to be bound by the contract
could be signature, or sign adopted as signature, or initials or a mark |
|
content |
note or memorandum must have all the information regarding the contract
if something is missing, its not sufficient subject matter must be identified in the note or in other writing that is referring to |
|
effect of noncompliance |
if the contract doesn't compy with the statutory of frauds, its not enforceable
|
|
recovery of value conferred |
if a person is not allowed to enforce a contract, has the right to recover the value of services of property given under the oral contract
recovery is under quasi-contractual obligation |
|
who may arise defense of noncompliance |
only the parties that are part of the contract can say is not binding bcause its an oral contract that does not satisfy the statute of frauds
third parties like insurance company and IRS can't claim contract is void |
|
parol evidence rule |
rule that eliminates the oral agreements and written statments made before or during the writing of the contract. if it was important enough during the oral agreement, it should be written in the contract
this helps to prevent fraud |
|
ambiguity |
the contract has more than one reasonable interpretation and its not clear what the intentions of the parties is, therefore the parol evidence rule does not apply and can be used former evidence to be able to interpret the contract
|
|
fraud, duress or mistake |
parol evidence rule does not apply if the contract seems complete but has a provision omitted. the evidence will be used to demostrate the omission was due to fradu, duress or msitake |
|
modification of contract |
parol evidence rule prohibits the contradiction of the complete written contract, but not the proof thay the contract was modified or terminated |
|
intention of parties |
when parties enter a contract, its pressumed they want the agreement to have some effect
court cant rewrite contract to be able to interpret it, but in the abscence of proof a word has a particular meaning, court will use its ordinary meaning |
|
meaning of words |
the interpretation will follow the common meaning of the words even if they have several meanings in the dictionary |
|
incorporation by reference |
contract consisting of two documents: the original contract and the detailed statement that specifies things to be done in the contract
|
|
whole contract |
every part of the contract makes a whole, so everthing is important
if the plain language of the contract can be interpreted, no further analysis is needed |
|
contradictory and ambigous terms |
when terms of a contract conflict with each other or have contradictory meaningss court has to decide what the contract really means ambigous: term of the contract if has more than one reasonable interpretation with help of evidence the court have to decide which side is correct |
|
nature of writing |
when a contract is half typed and half written, the part written rules if its a form already written and has being filed with more information, the extra information prevails |
|
strict construction against drafting party |
an ambiguous contract is interpreted stricly against the party who drafted it |
|
implied terms |
court will imply terms to cover a situation for which the parties failed to provide for, to give more meaning to the contract like established the determined time for a work to be done |
|
conduct of parties |
the conduct of the parties help determine their intentions if they entered to the contract wihout protest, neither party will be allowed to protest the contract is to indefinite to be binding |
|
costum and usage of trade |
language and costums of an industry
the language can be used to interpret the contract |
|
avoidance of hardship |
party is bound to a contract even if its not a good bargain but court can interpret the contract to avoid hardship (any forfeiture of a party's interest) |