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ABA Family Legal Guide

Contracts and Consumer Law

Introduction to Contracts

A Contract Defined

  1. What is a contract?
  2. May anyone enter into a contract?
  3. What determines enough maturity to make a contract?
  4. Does that mean minors may not make a contract?
  5. When does mental capacity invalidate a contract?
  6. May an intoxicated person get out of a contract?
  7. Do I need a lawyer to make a contract?
  8. Must contracts be in writing?
  9. Are there any advantages to putting a contract in writing?
  10. Which contracts must be in writing?
  11. What are the rules regarding signatures?
  12. Must contracts be notarized?
  13. What is an offer?
  14. What makes a contract valid?
  15. Is an advertisement an offer?
  16. Does an offer stay open indefinitely?
  17. Must both sides give consideration?
  18. How much consideration, or payment, must there be for a contract to be valid?
  19. Does consideration have to be money?
  20. Must the consideration be a new obligation?
  21. Does that mean I can't renegotiate a contract?
  22. Is a promise to make a gift a contract?
  23. What if someone makes a promise without consideration, but I rely on it?
  24. What is an option contract?
  25. What constitutes the acceptance of an offer?
  26. Can silence signal acceptance?
  27. Can acts qualify as acceptance?
  28. When is the acceptance effective?
  29. Is an "agreement to agree" a contract?
  30. Can a joke be the basis for a contract?
  31. What is a condition?
  32. May someone else make a contract on my behalf?
  33. What happens when an agent exceeds the authority granted by a principal?
  34. May I transfer my duties under a contract?
  35. May I assign my rights?
American Bar Association Family Legal Guide
Copyright © 2004 American Bar Association
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