Consideration Flashcards
Consideration
Consideration is that which is bargained for and given in exchange for a promise. It may be an act, a forbearance to act, or a return promise on the part of the promisee, but it must include a legal detriment to both parties in order to be valid.
Legal Detriment
A legal detriment is a promise to do something that one is not legally obligated to do, or to refrain from doing something that one is legally privileged to do.
Sufficiency of Consideration
Generally, courts do not require that the consideration benefit the promisee, nor that it be of any substantial value, as long as there is some legal detriment to the promisor so that the consideration serves as an inducement for the return promise of the promisee.
Valuable Consideration
Valuable consideration is consideration that is legally valid, meaning that confers a benefit to the promisor in exchange for his detriment.
Illusory Promise
An illusory promise is an expression , resembles promissory terms, but in actuality imposes no obligation upon the party making it so that the element of legal detriment is lacking.
Promissory Estoppel
The Doctrine of Promissory Estoppel provides a substitute for the element of consideration when there has been a foreseeable and detrimental reliance by the promisee upon the gratuitous promise made by the promisor.
Moral Obligation Rule
Under the Moral Obligation Rule, consideration may be found if the promisor has received something of value from the promisee under such circumstances as to create a moral obligation for the promisor to pay for what he or she has received, and if the promisor has later promised to pay. The rule most often applies in situations involving promises to pay for previously provided gratuitous services, promises to pay debts barred by the statute of limitations, or promises to pay debts discharged in bankruptcy. The promise to pay can be implied by a mere acknowledgment of a debt or by part payment of the debt.
