A contract is an agreement between two or more parties
to do something or not to do something. The agreement can be written or
Basically, a valid contract is an agreement
that the legal system will enforce. The legal system will enforce an
agreement or contract if it is supported by "good and sufficient
consideration.” This means that in order for you to enforce a contract
involving a promise made to you, you must show that you gave or promised
something in exchange for that promise. A contract will not be enforced
without this element of "consideration."
You attain legal age for the purposes of
being able to make a binding contract by turning eighteen years of age
or by getting married. This does not mean that, if you are younger than
eighteen, you can get out of a contract anytime you want simply because
you were underage when you made it. The law says that if you are a
minor, you are bound by your contracts unless you disaffirm the
contracts within reasonable time after attaining majority, and restore
to the other party all money or property received by you. You can’t
always "disaffirm" or go back on your contract when you turn eighteen.
The law states that you can’t "disaffirm" a contract on your eighteenth birthday if the other party had reason to believe you were capable of contracting by your engaging in an adult business, or by your having misrepresented your age.
If you are of legal age and mental capacity,
you can make bad bargains as well as good ones without interference
from the courts. The courts will enforce a bad deal. The courts will not
enforce an "unconscionable" contract. This means that if you sold a
life preserver to a drowning man for a million dollars you probably
couldn’t rely on the court to enforce the deal at a later date.