What makes a contract binding?
Sadly, contracts are a passion of mine. But, in short, lots of things–it depends on the type of contract. The basic elements of a old-fashioned contract generally are offer, acceptance, and consideration. Consideration is a term that basically means you have to give up something to get something, kinduva quid pro quo. You can’t contract to paint somebody’s house for absolutely nothing in return (no money, no bartering, etc). This is slighly oversimplified. There are other things that need to be considered–was the person signing of sound mind, old enough, etc. A contract to do something illegal or force someone to do something against public policy (like an arranged marriage) is not binding. Some types of contracts require a date. You don’t always have to “sign” a contract to make it binding. First, only the person that you are trying to enforce the contract against has to sign it. Certain construction contracts in California have to have certain language to make them valid. A lot of
