Chapter 12 Vocabulary Flashcards
That value given in return for a promise or performance in a contractual agreement.
Consideration
The act of refraining from an action that one has legal right to undertake.
Forbearance
A remedy whereby a contract is canceled and the parties are returned to the positions they occupied before the contract was made.
Rescission
An act that takes place before a contract is made and that ordinarily, by itself, cannot later be consideration with respect to that contract.
Past Consideration
A common means of settling a disputed claim, whereby a debtor offers to pay a lesser amount than the creditor purports to be owed.
Accord and Satisfaction
A debt whose amount has been ascertained, fixed, agreed on, settled, or exactly determined.
Liquidated Debt
A debt that is uncertain in amount.
Unliquidated Debt
An agreement in which one party gives up the right to pursue a legal claim against another party.
Release
An agreement to substitute a contractual obligation for some other type of legal action based on a valid claim.
Covenant Not to Sue
A doctrine that can be used to enforce a promise when the promisee has justifiably relied on the promise and when justice will be better served by enforcing the promise.
Promissory Estoppel
Barred, impeded, or precluded.
Estopped
The capacity required by the law for a party who enters into a contract to be bound by that contract.
Contractual Capacity
The age (eighteen in most states) at which a person, formally a minor, is recognized by law as an adult and is legally responsible for his or her actions.
Age of Majority
In regard to minors, the act of being freed from parental control.
Emancipation
The legal avoidance, or setting aside, of a contractual obligation.
Disaffirmance
Necessities required for life, such as food, shelter, clothing, and medical attention.
Necessaries
The acceptance or confirmation of an act or agreement that gives legal force to an obligation that previously was not enforceable.
Ratification
Charging an illegal rate of interest.
Usury
A contractual promise of one party to refrain from conducting business similar to that of another party for a certain period of time and within a specified geographical area.
Covenant Not to Compete
A contract between an employer and an employee in which the terms and conditions of employment are stated.
Employment Contract
A court-ordered correction of a written contract so that it reflects the true intentions of the parties.
Reformation
A contract or clause that is void on the basis of public policy because one party was forced to accept terms that are unfairly burdensome and that unfairly benefit the other party.
Unconscionable (Contract or Clause)
A standard-form contract in which the stronger party dictates the terms.
Adhesion Contract
A clause that releases a contractual party from liability in the event of monetary or physical injury, no matter who is at fault.
Exculpatory Clause
