Chapter 15: Writing Requirements and Exceptions to Statue of Frauds and Sufficiency of the Writing. Exam 3 Review

Prenuptial agreements must be in writing to be enforceable.

True

The Statute of Frauds operates as a defense to the enforcement of an oral contract for the sale of land.

True

Parol Evidence Rule

A substantive rule of contracts under which a court will not receive into evidence the parties' prior negotiations, prior agreements, or contemporaneous oral agreements if that evidence contradicts or varies the terms of the parties' written contract.

Integrated Contract

A written contract that constitutes the final expression of the parties' agreement. If a contract is integrated, evidence extraneous to the contract that contradicts or alters the meaning of the contract in any way is inadmissible.

The Statute of Frauds covers all of the following EXCEPT contracts for the sale of:

a new college textbook

fully integrated written contract is intended to be a ___ and final embodiment of the terms of the parties' agreement. Parol evidence is ___ in such a situation. For example, evidence of a prior negotiation that ___ a term of the written contract would not be admitted.

complete, inadmissible, contradicts

If a contract contains an integration clause, it means that:

evidence from outside the contract is excluded.

The following are exceptions to the parol evidence rule. Evidence of any subsequent ___ (oral or written) of a written contract can be introduced in court. Note, though, that oral modifications may not be enforceable under the ____ Oral evidence can be introduced in all cases to show that the contract was voidable or ___.

modification, Statue of Frauds, void.

Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), evidence of ______ contractsItem 1 can be used as evidence for interpreting an otherwise valid written contract.

prior dealing

Promissory estoppel and the doctrine of partial performance both require

reasonable reliance

The reasoning behind the one-year rule under the Statute of Frauds is that:

the parties' memory of their contract terms is not reliable for longer than a year.

The following types of contracts should be in writing: Contracts involving interests in land. Contracts that cannot, by their terms, be ____ within one year from the day after the date of formation. ____ or secondary, contracts, such as promises to answer for the debt or duty of another. Promises made in ____ of marriage. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, contracts for the sale of goods priced at ___ or more.

performed, collateral, consideration, $500

Dillon hires Rhonda to tutor him. They discuss Rhonda's fee and hours and agree that the arrangement will last for the entire school year. Under the Statute of Frauds, this contract:

Does not need to be in writing

A primary obligation and a collateral promise are the same.

False

The written contract need not consist of a single document to constitute an enforceable contract.

False

Oral contracts for the sale of land fall under the Statute of Frauds, but under what circumstance might a court enforce the oral contract without a writing?

If the buyer paid part of the price, took possession, and made permanent improvements to the land

After a night of drinking, Bob tells his neighbor, Steve, that he can have a right-of-way to drive across Bob's land to get to a fishing pond. A month later, while Steve is driving across Bob's land, he hears Bob yell, "Get off my property, you trespasser!" Steve has

Not enforceable contract

A collateral promise is one made by a third party to assume the debts or obligations of a primary party to a contract if the primary party does not perform.

True

Every state has a statute specifying what types of contracts must be in writing, and we refer to such a statute as the Statute of Frauds.

True

If a contract is partially integrated, evidence of consistent additional terms is admissible to supplement the written agreement.

True

Under the Uniform Commercial Code, courts allow the introduction of practices and customs generally allowed in a particular industr

True

Under the parol evidence rule, when the terms of a written contract are ambiguous:

additional evidence is admissible to show the meaning of the terms.