Running head: CONTRACTS

Elements of a Contract An Assignment Submitted by Name of Student Name of Establishment Class XXXX, Section XXXX, Fall 2011

CONTRACTS Assignment Title The essential elements of a contract include offer, acceptance and consideration. 1. An Offer: An offer refers to an expression of willingness by a party to enter into a binding contract or a bargain. The validity of an offer is dependent upon acceptance or rejection. Offers are dated and considered valid when accepted and invalid when rejected. In situations where an offer is not dated, its validity is determined upon acceptance or rejection. It is considered valid if accepted by a party and invalid when rejected. Sometimes statements can result to offers. In a court setting, several factors are considered to determine whether a statement is an offer or not. If information of a stock of sale includes descriptions such as price, quantity, delivery details among many, the court determines the reasonability of the circumstances before confirming athst the statement is an offer. For instance a statement simply saying I am selling eggs with an attached phone number cannot be considered an offer. On the other hand, if a statement says Grade eggs for sale, $ 20 per tray with an attached phone number is considered an offer. Consequently, upon acceptance of an offer, partial payment means the parties must abide with all the other requirements of an offer (Austen-Baker,2002). Subsequently, a counter offer may occur when changes to offer before acceptance terminate the original expectations and the making new requirements valid. When the obligations of an offer are met by the party accepting, it makes an offer irrevocable.

CONTRACTS There are two parties to an offer. The offerer and the offeree. The offerer is the party selling and the offeree is the party abiding to the obligations of an offer (Skyline, 2003). 2. Acceptance Acceptance of an offer refer to the situation when an offer has been accepted, goods are delivered and not rejected in time to cancel an offer. There are three types of acceptance that an offeree may demonstrate; Conditional Acceptance: A contract made under specific condition is called a conditional acceptance. Terms of a conditional acceptance may include aspects such as time, place and date of delivery. Conditional acceptance is associated with counter offers and is valid only when one party agree to the terms stated. Implied Acceptance: This is when a party implies by conduct that he /she accepts an offer. For example when a cosmetic product is sent to a client and the client fails to return it, it is considered that the offer is accepted and he or she is expected to pay for the product. Expressed Acceptance: This is a straight forward kind of acceptance where a party accepts the terms of an offer without any kind of changes.

3. Consideration This refers to the closure of contract. The party agrees to be bound by the terms of a contract. Consideration is the promise to fulfil the expectation of an offer or contract. Consequently, the value of consideration must be determined in advance. For instance, if

CONTRACTS the party agreeing to an offer of Grade eggs for sale, $ 20 per tray, he or she must pay the value of Grade eggs for sale, $ 20 per tray consideration accordingly. In addition, Consideration must be determined objectively. For instance, promising to love someone in a marriage can be considered as consideration when love is subjectively determined (Van der Bank,2011). While a contract is unilateral and payment is made partially, several factors are considered to determine the objective consideration of a contract. For instance, factors such as time, place and location of delivery of service/good delivery are considered (Waddams, 1999).

CONTRACTS

References Austen-Baker A(2002). 'Gilmore and the Strange Case of the Failure of Contract to Die After All' (2002) 18 Journal of Contract Law 1 Morgan, S (2000). Contract Essentials, American Law Book: Illinois. Skyline, D (2003). Contracts, Canada Law Book: Toronto. Van der Bank C. M (2011) Ventures into the minefield: Equity and fairness no defence for restraint of trade. Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution Vol. 3(3), pp. 50-