- 10 Marks
Question
a) When Ozozo was about to travel out of the country, he promised his wife Julie that he would remit her the equivalent of GH¢2,000 every month for the upkeep of the house. However, when he got to his destination, after sending money for two months he failed to honour the promise. He has just returned after two years stay outside the country. Julie has approached you to advise her whether she can claim the arrears in the contract with Ozozo.
Ozozo promised his daughter Anita before travelling that, he would buy a car for her on his return. Anita insisted that her father put that promise into writing and sign, which he did. On his return, Ozozo is dragging his feet in respect of his promise.
Required:
i) List FOUR elements of a valid contract. (4 marks)
ii) Explain to Julie whether the agreement with Ozozo constituted a valid contract. (3 marks)
iii) Advise Anita on the effect of putting the agreement in writing. (3 marks)
Answer
i) The following are the basic requirements in a legally enforceable contract:
- An offer.
- An acceptance.
- Competent parties who have the legal capacity to contract.
- Lawful subject matter.
- Mutuality of obligation.
- Consideration.
- Intention to create legal relations.
(Any 4 points for 4 marks)
ii) Julie will not succeed (Balfour v Balfour). The parties in domestic or social arrangements are generally presumed not to intend legal consequences. For a contract to exist, the parties to an agreement must intend to create legal relations. Usually, the presence of consideration will provide evidence of this – if the promisor has specified something as the price for the promisee, this – in most cases – carries with it an intention that the parties be bound. Intention remains, however, an independent requirement and must be separately demonstrated, and there are cases in which consideration has been present but no contract found to exist because this pre-condition has not been fulfilled. In determining if there is contractual intent, an objective approach is taken. (3 marks)
iii) Anita will succeed on the rebuttable presumption that they intend to claim legal relationship, although it is the same social/domestic agreement. (3 marks)
- Tags: Domestic Agreement, Valid Contract, Written Agreement
- Level: Level 1
- Topic: Contract Law
- Series: MAY 2018
- Uploader: Dotse