Intention to create legal relations Flashcards
What is the presumption regarding social and domestic agreements
There is a presumption that there is no intention to create legal relations
What is the presumption regarding commercial relations?
there is a presumption that there is intention to create legal relations
Give the facts of Balfour v Balfour
The husband and wife lived in different countries and he agreed to send her £30 per month maintenance. they divorced and the wife said she should get £30 per month alimony because they had a contract that he would pay her £30 per month.
What was the decision of the court in Balfour v Balfour?
LJ Atkin said this agreement was not a contract because the parties did not intend to be legally bound.
Give the facts of Esso v Commissioners of Customs and Excise
Anyone buying four gallons of petrol would get a coin stamped with the likeness of a member of the England squad. There became a tax issue over whether these coins were being sold. the question of if they were being sold rested on if there was a contract. if someone bought the petrol and were not given the coin would they be entitled to sue for the coin?
what was the decision of the court in the Esso case?
The House of Lords said the coins were not subject to a contract. there was no intention to create legal relations here.
When are presumptions rebuttable?
Where there is evidence to the contrary.
in which 3 circumstances can social and domestic presumption be rebutted?
Context of an agreement
reliance on an agreement
certainty of an agreement
Which case relates to context of an agreement?
Merritt v Merritt
Which case relates to reliance on an agreement?
Parker v Clark
Which case relates to certainty of an agreement?
Jones v Padavatton
Give the facts of Merritt v Merritt
Husband and wife were joint owners of a house but divorced. the husband agreed if she paid the mortgage installments until they were paid off then he would transfer the house into her name. she asked him to sign something and he did. later he refused to transfer ownership after she had paid off the mortgage
give the decision of the court in Merritt v Merritt
The court said there was intention to create legal relations here because he signed something and they were separated so it was obvious that they intended to create legal relations
Give the facts of Parker v Clark
D’s were elderly and asked C’s to move in with them to help take care of them, with the promise that once they died C’s would inherit their house. C’s had to sell their house in order to move in. D’s later asked C’s to leave C’s tried to sue for breach of contract.
Give the decision of the court in Parker v Clark
the court said there was a contract and it had been breached because the C’s had such a reliance on the agreement that there must have been intention to create legal relations.
Give the facts of Jones v Padavatton
Mother agreed to pay daughter $200 per month to maintain her while she studied but there was no certainty of how long this would go on. The daughter took 5 years studying and the mother lost patience and stopped the money. the daughter resisted this saying they had a contract
Give the decision of the court in Jones v Padavatton
The court said there was no intention to be legally bound because there was no certainty in the length of time she was supposed to provide money.
Why is it difficult to rebut the presumption of commercial intention?
There is a very heavy burden of proof to discharge.
Give the facts of Edwards v Skyways
At a redundancy meeting D’s said they would give him an ex gracia payment that would be approximately the amount he had contributed towards his pension. D’s later refused to pay it saying they had made the offer out of the goodness of their heart, and there was no intention to create legal relations
Give the decision in Edwards v Skyways
the court said the company had not done enough to discharge the presumption in favour of intention and they had a contract to give C the money
What are the cases in which the presumption of intention in commercial situations were successfully rebutted?
Esso v Commissioners
Rose + Frank co v Crompton Bros.
give the facts of Rose + Frank v Crompton Bros
two companies had been doing some trading and formalised it with a trade agreement but inserted a clause saying the agreement was not intended to be legally binding.
Give the decision of the courts in Rose + Frank v Crompton Bros
The parties could not have expressed their lack of intention more clearly so the presumption in favour of intention was successfully rebutted.
