BLAW 2301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Vagueness, Prenuptial Agreement, Parol Evidence Rule
26 Jun 2018
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CH 16 WRITTEN CONTRACTS
Written Contracts
**The statute of frauds: A plaintiff may not enforce any of the following agreements unless the
agreement, or some memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the DEFENDANT. The
agreements that must be in writing are those:
–For any interest in land*
–That cannot be performed within one year*
–To pay the debt of another
–Made by an executor of an estate*
–Made in consideration of marriage; and*
–For the sale of goods worth $500 or more
–Unenforceable if...
•When two parties make an agreement covered by one of these six topics, it must be in writing
to be enforceable
–But not Void
•Once a contract is fully executed, it makes no difference that it was unwritten
•Ex: sold house, paid money. Moved out. Owner comes back tells u to leave. Can’t cuz contract
fully executed.
Agreements for an Interest in Land:
–A contract for the sale of any interest in land must be in writing to be enforceable – this
means any legal right regarding land
–Writ of first refusal: must offer to a specific person first is selling before to another person.
–Exception: Full Performance by the Seller
•If the seller completely performs her side of a contract for an interest in land, a court is likely
to enforce the agreement even if it was oral
–Exception: Part Performance by the Buyer
•The buyer of land may be able to enforce an oral contract if she paid part of the purchase price
AND either entered upon the land or made improvements to it
–Exception: Promissory Estoppel
•If a promisor makes an oral promise that should reasonably cause the promisee to rely on
it, and the promisee does rely, the promisee may be able to enforce the promise, despite
the statute of frauds, if that is the only way to avoid injustice
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
* Agreements That Cannot Be Performed Within One Year
–Contracts that cannot be performed within one year are unenforceable unless they are in
writing
–If a contract could possibly be completed within one year it need not be in writing. If u
become TA for life but not in writing, it can still be enforceable. Cuz there is no guarantee that
she will live past one more yr. even if u live past 1yr, its still enforceable becuz u could’ve
possibly completed ur work in a yr the moment u entered tht agreement(thinking u could’ve
died within tht yr)
–If the agreement will necessarily take longer than one year (if u agree to do smth for like
2yrs) to finish, it must be in writing to be enforceable
Promise To Pay The Debt Of Another
–When one person agrees to pay the debt of another as a favor to that debtor, it is called a
collateral promise, and it must be in writing to be enforceable
–Exception: The Leading Object Rule(selfish benefits)
When the promisor guarantees to pay the debt of another and the leading object of
the promise is some benefit to the promisor himself, then the contract will be enforceable
even if unwritten
Promise Made by an Executor of an Estate
estate= assets + liabilities of dead person
–An executor is the person who is in charge of an estate after someone dies
–As an executor/executrix u do not have the legal ability to pay the debts of the deceased. Can
choose to if u want to.
–An executor’s promise to use her own funds to pay a debt of the deceased must be in writing
to be enforceable
Promises Made in Consideration of Marriage
–Prenuptial agreement
–A promise made in consideration of marriage must be in writing to be enforceable, can’t be
under duress- has to knowing and consensual.
WHAT THE WRITING MUST CONTAIN
1) The writing must:
–Be signed by the defendant(the person suing and the person who the contract is with must be
same person to considered an actual defendant- if not, still a defendant but not enforceable if
defendant didn’t sign the contract) ex: trump vs stormy, and
–State with reasonable certainty the name of each party, the subject matter of the agreement,
and all of the essential terms and promises
2) Signature
–“Signature” is defined very broadly
–Any mark or logo placed on a document to indicate acceptance will generally satisfy the
statute of frauds
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
