Contract Laws: A Working Legal Definition
Contract laws are made to protect contracts, which are made as stolid reinforcements of an agreement to protect both parties signing the contract. Such written protective devise are made for numerous transactions: for selling and buying, marriages, building, employment, intellectual and real property, and just about anything else that involves the need for binding terms that might be broken or defaulted on later on. This is where contract laws come in: they protect the individual who is the “victim” of the one who defaulted, who disagrees, who disputes an issue, act, or idea. According to the legal specialists at expertlaw.com, it takes a number of variables to make a contract: *Both (or all) signers of the contract must be in mutual agreement and have a mutual understanding of the terms of the contract they are agreeing to. *The contract must have a dual action of offer and accept, of yin and yang, of a holding out of one hand and a reaching to accept with another—ending in a handshake…on paper. (Unlike the “gentleman’s agreement, which is all of the above ending in a literal handshake instead of a written and signed one, a contract—protected by relevant contract laws is more legally binding as it is more provable; it is a tangible form of proof, whereas a verbal agreement is very difficult to prove.) *Both parties must have a stake in Mutual Consideration. That is, something of “value” must be exchanged for the contract to be considered valid. *Something called “Performance or Deliver” must also exist in order for the contract to be considered legally binding document, valid and enforceable: the transaction described in the contract, agreed upon, and signed, must be completed to satisfaction—as defined and described in the document. That is, a job must be done and paid for, a property must be handed over and paid for, etc.. *The contract typically is done in the nature of “Good Faith,” an implied condition that intends for both signers of the contract to be honest and disclose information as it really is and not as disguised, veiled promise. For example, if I agree to buy sea monkeys from you and find they are actually floating pieces of crap, you have misrepresented the product and have not been of Good Faith. * The contract usually includes an element covered by contract laws that assumes the document is not in any violation of public policy. That is, the valued, valuable transaction, the goods, and/or the services exchanged must not be illegal. I cannot agree to sleep with you if you agree to provide me with cash to pay my rent.