Elements of a Contract
Hillary Fullmer
Eth/321
January 12, 2015
William Eshelman
Elements of a Contract An agreement that is legally bound between two or more people is a considered a contract. There are three elements that make up a contract agreement, consideration, capacity, and legality. Agreement is the coming to terms with both parties involved by acceptance of the offer. Consideration is the return of the value promised for an action or non-action that is specified. Capacity is required by both parties showing that they are in a position of joining into a legally binding contract. “A contracts legality is the point at which the contract must meet the requirements of the law.”(Goldman & Sigismond, 2011, p. 122). In the scenario of Jack and the widow and her daughter, we are going to answer if engaging an attorney is necessary, if the contract was valid, and what the likely outcome of the case is.
The Purchase …show more content…
In the business of buying antiques, Jack makes his profit from buying items at a low price and selling them at a higher rate.
Jack knew that the china at the sale was worth more than the $150.00 he offered the widow for all of it, bringing him a considerable return on his investment. He knew the price of the china was too good to be true so much that he did not attend any other sales that day. Because the widow gave consideration and her consent to the agreement by accepting Jack’s money for the china, this makes this an enforceable verbal contract. While Jack was paying for his items, the widow told him that she was downsizing because she was moving to an assisted living
facility.
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Image of competency. Chapter 7 Mental Incapacity & Contracts. Education Portal. 2003-2015.
Underlying Factors If you look deeper into the purchase of the china between Jack and the widow, there are some underlying circumstances that should have been considered by Jack. When you deal with the elderly you have to make sure that they are of sound mind for a contract to be enforceable. Jack assumes that the widow is competent as all adults are considered to be. When the widow told that she was moving to an assisted living facility, Jack should have considered the following is she of sound mind, is there anyone else that could help him, or should he offer her a fair price for the china, what is the legality of the contract?
Image of Capacity. Chapter 7 Capacity of Contract. Education Portal. 2003-2015.
Recourse of Actions Jack was dishonest and knew that he had been, because he left the sale with the china in hand thus taking advantage of the widow’s condition. Because of the significance of the china to the daughter she approaches Jack to purchase the items at double the price. When Jack refuses to sale them back to her she contacts an attorney to purchase the items back. Jack knows that his dishonest purchase is not going to hold up because there was not competency in his agreement, knowing this, he contacts his attorney. The purpose of competency is to protect those that are not competent of entering into contracts. This by itself makes the contract between Jack and the widow not valid because of her medical condition. Jack committed fraud by knowing that the china was worth much more than he offered preventing the formation of the contract, this allows the daughter and widow to sue for other damages resulting from the transaction and charge Jack with consumer fraud.
Conclusion
In closing, Jack knew that the outcome of the case does not look promising. He has his attorney ask the widow and her daughter if they would be willing to a contract rescission. They decline because this would not alleviate any of the damages or attorney’s fees they have had to incur because of his dishonesty and unwillingness to return the china. Jacks fraudulent purchase of the china lead to him being found guilty of fraud, he is ordered to pay monetary damages because the widow and her daughter were able to prove Jack committed fraud, because he knew the medical, mental status of the widow and the actual value of the china.
References
Goldman, A. J., & Sigismond, W. D. (2011). Business Law: Principles and Practices (9th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Image of Capacity. Chapter 7 Capacity of Contract. Education Portal. (2003-2015). Retrieved from http://education-portal.com/academy/course/business-law-course.html
Image of Capacity. Chapter 7 Mental Incapacity & Contracts. Education Portal. (2003-2015). Retrieved from http://education-portal.com/academy/course/business-law-course.html
Image of handshake. Diffen. (2015). Agreement vs. Contract. Retrieved from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Agreement_vs_Contract