How to Draw a Contract in the USA

Agreements which a business owner makes in the course of carrying on a business may be called contracts. A contract is a legal document between two or more parties in which each has rights and obligations. Contracts may be enforced by the court if they meet certain requirements. Suppose that a car dealer made an agreement to sell you an automobile for $ 10 000. You have the right to possess and use the car and an obligation to pay for it. So that both parties know exactly what is agreed upon, there should be written copies. A contract must have the following characteristics to be legal: mutual agreement, consideration, form, and competency and" legal subject matter.

Owners and workers enter into contracts every day. When merchandise is bought and sold, buyers and sellers enter into contracts. Business owners are involved with contracts when merchandise is sold, employees are hired, insurance is purchased, money is put in the bank, and when property is rented, bought or sold. When agreements are simple and the amount of money involved is small, business persons often handle these matters themselves. When the agreement is more complicated or involves more money the parties usually hire a lawyer. Since contracts can be enforced by law, it is important that people understand them. When an individual fails to honor a contract, the other parties to the contract can legally require that the contract be fulfilled or a satisfactory remedy be provided

Mutual agreement. For an agreement to be mutual, there must be a clear, definite and serious offer and unqualified acceptance. For example, the customer who decided that she wanted the an­tique table for $ 200 could not show that there was a contract. She made no unqualified acceptance when the dealer made the offer. Thinking about it does not constitute acceptance. However, if she had put down a deposit, then matters would have been different.

If there is to be mutual agreement, there is no need for a true meeting of the minds. This means that the parties involved need not be thinking of the same thing: outward manifestations legally mean more than secret intentions. The subject matter of a contract must be stated in definite terms. If an individual owns two cars of the same type and offers to sell one of them to a customer who accent a valid contract does not exist unless it can be proved that both parties were thinking of the same car. Providing such situations by oral testimony alone is difficult. This is why contracts should be written.

Consideration parties to a contract must receive something of value and give something of value in return. This something of value is called consideration. The consideration may be cash goods or service or it may even be a particular action.

If a man offers to give a friend a car and two days later changes his mind, he cannot legally be forced to give up the car. The con­tract cannot be enforced because there was no consideration at the time of the original offer. The friend did not give or agree to give, anything of value in exchange for the car. If the friend had given the man $ 1 and had obtain receipt for it, then the contract often should be enforced.

Form. A contract is made if there is an offer and acceptance, consideration, competent parties and legal subject matter. The con­tract may be written or oral. However the law in various states has modified this general rule. In the New York State a contract for the sale of goods worth $ 50 or more must be shown by a written agreement, by partial payment or by partial acceptance of the goods for j it to be legally enforceable. A contract for the sale or transfer of j land or real property must be in writing. Contracts which take more j than one year to perform usually must be in writing. This includes leases of more than one year. |

Competency and Legality. A competency party is one who has the legal capacity to enter into a contract. A person must be of legal age and sane in order to be considered competent.

In order for a contract to be enforceable, it must be a legal agreement. Gambling debts cannot be collected through the courts because gambling is illegal in most states. If a person makes a worker promise not to join a union while working for a particular company, the person cannot legally force the worker to obey the agreement. Such contracts infringe on the workers right not to join the union. A contract is not enforceable if the subject of the agree­ment is not in itself legal, or infringes on one's civil rights.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14