Definition of a Contract

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ILLUSTRATION: FOTOLIA/AKS
The definition of a contract is "an agreement upon sufficient consideration to do or not do a particular thing." (Or things)

Which of he following five transactions are contracts: buying a newspaper, getting married, using your credit card, making a phone call, or sharing a car pool?

If you answered yes to all five, you were right. That’s because each of those transactions falls within the definition of a contract, which is “an agreement upon sufficient consideration to do or not do a particular thing.”

Here’s how that definition works out in a sampling of those types of transactions:

When you buy a newspaper, the sufficient consideration is the price of the paper. For it, the newspaper boy agrees to do a particular service–namely, hand over today’s copy of the Daily Planet (or whatever paper it is that you are buying). If you shortchange him or if he hands over a copy of yesterday’s Tribune, that’s a breach of the contract.

When you get married, the sufficient considerations are your emotional, physical, and financial services. For it, your spouse agrees to do a particular thing: provide equivalent services for you.

  • Published on Oct 11, 2012
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