Legal Terms Chapter 20 - Third Parties and Discharge of Contracts Flashcards
Accord
Instead of completing the terms when there is a dispute about a contract, the parties agree to perform in a different manner from that agreed upon originally; also called the offer.
Accord and satisfaction
An agreement to perform a contract obligation in a different manner than originally called for, and the completion of that agreed-upon performance.
Anticipatory breach
The announcement, before the time for performance, by a party to a contract that he or she is not going to perform.
Assignee
One to whom a right is transferred by assignment.
Assignment
The transfer of a contract right.
Assignor
One who transfers a right by assignment.
Bankruptcy
A legal process under the Federal Bankruptcy Act that aims to give debtors who are overwhelmed with debt a fresh start and to provide a fair way of distributing a debtor’s assets among all creditors.
Breach of contract
One of the parties fails to carry out the terms of the contract.
Compensatory damages
To compensate the plaintiff for actual losses resulting from the breach.
Consequential damages
Losses that flow not directly from a breach of contract, but from the consequences of it; requires that parties have taken the possibilities into account when making the contract.
Delegation
The transfer of a contract duty.
Exemplary damages
Damages as a measure of punishment of the defendant’s wrongful acts; also called punitive damages.
Impossibility
A method of discharging one’s obligations under a contract because it is impossible to perform, not merely difficult or costly; also called impracticality.
Incidental beneficiary
One who is indirectly benefited by a contract.
Incidental damages
Reasonable expenses that indirectly result from a breach of contract.
Intended beneficiary
The third party of a contract made with the purpose of benefitting that party.
Legal tender
Coins, paper, or other currency that is sufficient under law for the payment of debts.
Liquidated damages
Damages that are agreed on by the parties at the time of the execution of a contract, in the event of a subsequent breach.
Material breach
When a major or essential part of the contract has not been performed.
Nominal damages
Damages in name only; token or trivial amounts of money awarded to the party who wins a lawsuit by proving that the defendant breached the contract, but suffers no actual monetary loss.
Novation
An agreement whereby an original party to a contract is replaced by a new party.
Performance
The parties do as they agreed to do under the terms of the contract.
Satisfaction
The acceptance.
Substantial performance
A doctrine allowing a contracting party to sue the other party for breach, even though slight omissions or deviations were made in the first party’s own performance of the contract.
Tender of payment
To offer to the other party the money owed under a contract.
Tender of performance
To offer to do that which one has agreed to do under the terms of a contract.
Third-party beneficiary
Someone for whose benefit a promise is made, but who is not a party to the contract.
Time is of the essence
Time is critical.
Toll
To bar, defeat, or take away.
Tolled
They do not run, as in statutes of limitations during times of infancy or mental illness which would prevent a lawsuit from being dismissed for late filing.
