The issues which the Court will consider are;
I. Is there an "Offer" and "Acceptance"
II. Do the parties have the legal capacity to contract
III. Was there a meeting of the minds
IV. Is the contract supported by consideration
There is an Offer and Acceptance by the performance or forbearance on the part of Harry and Wanda. Unfortunately, there was no meeting of the minds as to what they were offering and what was accepted. Harry and Wanda are over the age of 18 and each is mentally competent, and, therefore, has the legal capacity to enter a binding and enforceable contract. If either Harry or Wanda lacked the mental capacity to contract there would be no enforceable contract, even if all other elements of a contract were satisfied. According to Section 11, every person is competent to contract if he is of sound mind. The error in capacity may be caused by minority, lunacy, idiocy, drunkenness or status, and in this case drunkenness may be the flaw, hence the agreement becomes unenforceable. The two had a couple of wine bottles and these would result in intoxication hence lack of proper judgment.
The legal definition of consideration is something of value given by each party to induce the other to enter into a contract. Consideration can take the form of money, a promise, performance of an act, or tolerance of an act.
Harry's agreement to give up having an adulterous affair with Doris is not valid consideration because Harry is not giving up anything that he would normally be entitled to. Harry is married and should not be committing adultery. Therefore, giving up an adulterous affair does not constitute valid consideration. The law states that in agreements in restraint of marriage (Section 26), where X agrees with Y for good consideration that she will not marry Z. It is a void agreement.
Harry's agreement to help raise the children also is not consideration. Harry is offering to do something he is already legally bound to do. As the father of the three children, he has a legal obligation to raise them and by "raising the three children", I mean making sure they have food to eat, buy them clothing to suit the season, helping them with homework, driving them to and from school and other activities, and doing all other things which constitute "raising children."
Harry's agreement to forego seeking a divorce before the children complete their formal education constitutes reasonable and valuable consideration because he is giving up a legal right. If Harry does not feel that he and Wanda are compatible, Harry has a legal right to seek a divorce. Giving up the right to divorce Wanda and remaining in the marriage constitutes his consideration in the agreement.
Wanda's agreement to be a loving wife may or may not constitute consideration. It would depend on the parties' definition of a "loving wife". Does it mean keeping a clean house, having Harry's dinner on the table every night at 7 PM? These are normal things which a spouse would do under normal circumstances and would not constitute consideration in their agreement. However, if "loving wife" meant holding a full time job, bringing home a second income, or things of that nature, and Wanda did all of that, then it would be considered valuable consideration for the agreement.
Wanda's agreement to give Harry $200,000 of her inheritance may or may not constitute valuable consideration. The way it is stated, it sounds more like a promise to make a gift to Harry of $200,000. If this is a promise to make a gift, then Wanda is not under any legal responsibility to make this gift to Harry. If, on the other hand, Wanda had agreed to give Harry $200,000 from her inheritance, if Harry agrees not to seek a divorce, then the promise to make a gift is supported by valid consideration. In this case also, Wanda is not legally obligated to make this gift to Harry because he is now seeking a divorce and, therefore, Harry's consideration failed when he said he would seek a divorce.
Wanda's promise to make a gift to Harry of $200,000 when the children finished their education is not supported by consideration because Harry has not given up anything. The fact that the children finished their formal education does not supply the necessary consideration because it is not coming from Harry and it is not the result of any action on the part of Harry. Therefore, Wanda can rightfully decline to give Harry $200,000 from her inheritance.
Works Cited
Hugh, Collins. The Law of Contract. 4. East Kilbride: Thompson Litho Ltd., 2003.
Macdonald, Elizabeth and Laurence Koffman. The Law of Contract. Gosport: Ashford Colour Press, 2007.
Parsons, Theophilus. Law of Contract. 5. Vol. II. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1866.
Robert, A. William. Principle of Contract Law, The concise Hornbook Series. 2. West, 2009.
Story, W. William. A Treatise on the Law of Contract. 4. Vol. II. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1856.
