Introduction
Oral contracts are only verbal agreements, and the details of which including terms have not been written down. Such agreements include the mutual terms to which two parties agree on at one particular time (Spitko, 2016). Arguably, oral agreements are a widespread phenomenon in the United States of America today. Two parties meet either alone or in the company of a third party.
Thesis question
It’s essential to understand crucial matters regarding oral contracts and implied contracts. Are verbal contracts and implied contracts enforceable?
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Thesis statement.
Oral contracts are mostly an agreement that may be informal in most of the cases. Most people may prefer to call this type of arrangement a gentleman’s agreement. Mostly, oral contracts and implied contracts are both enforceable.
Findings
Essentially, oral contracts have become a common phenomenon, and sometimes, there is more that is needed in an agreement to make it binding. This type of contracts rarely has written documents to show that the settlement happened. However, for this contract to be valid, there is a need to involve the standard criteria. For instance, the agreement needs to have an offer. An offer is what initiates a contract other than the need for what one is offering.
The person who owns the information or a particular item of discussion makes an offer. The offer involves the issue and its specific details, for instance, how many chairs one is offering and at what specific time. Additionally, there has to be accepted. Acceptance means that the other party wants and is ready to go by the terms that the first party is offering them. So, in this case, the second party accepts the chairs being provided.
The two parties make considerations on whether the terms are agreeable and to what extent changes should be made. Significantly, the issue of money, service and quality are among items that are put to consideration. After this consideration, both parties come to a mutuality, which is the point where their minds meet satisfactorily. However, despite these components of any contract being present in the oral agreement, the existence of these components is difficult to prove (Spitko, 2016). Therefore, to prove their existence, there is a need for evidence. In some cases, email messages may act as evidence to show that a particular transaction or agreement of meeting happened of a specific date.
Also, cheques or receipts and invoices could be evidence that in most cases help to prove the existence of such an agreement. The receipts show the date, amount, items or the name of the parties, which is essential in indicating that transactions took place. Additionally, there are situations where the existence of a witness is as good an evidence as to any other form (Fried, 2015). The witness may testify to prove that they were present of the specific date of the agreement and that the content of discussion does not contradict the claim of the parties or one of the parties of the contract.
In the United States of America, the statute of frauds demands that although the contract is not written, there must be documents that prove. Materials such as the wills, those concerning leases that exceed one year as well as titles and land transfer documents must be written. These agreements are sensitive and may lead to disagreement on the contents. These facts mean that not all arrangements may be subject to oral contracts in unwritten form.
Arguably, in the United States, oral contracts are most effective on short term agreements. This measure is to ensure that the deal does not suffer a blow in the evidence that one party passes on or their witness becomes incapacitated. Additionally, the oral contracts have shorter periods within which either of the parties may sue. There is every indication that most arrangements are likely to encounter contradicting information that needs verification in the court.
To ensure that the oral contract is valid; therefore, proof of competence and capacity needs to be available. The parties and their witnesses must be of sound mind and in a physical and mental ability to participate in the agreement (Aaron et al., 2017). Also, the subject of discussion needs to be legal. In this case, if the contract seeks to solicit activities that are in consideration illegal, then the contract is not enforceable.
With the fulfilment of all the above requirements, the oral contract is enforceable and is also discoverable by the court in cases where there is a conflict. On the other side, the implied contracts are agreements that exist as a result of the actions of those entering the agreement (Spitko, 2016). The implied covenant may not have a written or verbal agreement, but the behaviour and circumstances may mean that there is an agreement. For instance, such agreements include warranty documents and are also enforceable.
Conclusion
Both the oral and implied contracts are enforceable. However, there needs to be individual components and circumstances that indicate that the agreement is in existence. The parties may disagree on various details of the matter. The presence of witnesses sometimes is a very crucial component. Additionally, some parties write down short notes on aspects of the agreement even in oral contracts. Such records act to help parties to prove before the court for the transaction to be enforceable.
References
Aaron, S. D., & Caterina, J. (2017). Inadvertent Contract Formation under New York Law: An Update. Syracuse L. Rev. , 67 , 835.
Fried, C. (2015). Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation . Oxford University Press, USA.
Spitko, E. G. (2016). The Will as an Implied Unilateral Arbitration Contract. Fla. L. Rev. , 68 , 49.
