At common law and under some statutes, an instrument to which the bound party has affixed a personal seal, usu. recognized as providing indisputable evidence of the validity of the underlying obligations. • The common-law distinction between sealed and unsealed instruments has been abolished by many states, and the UCC provides that the laws applicable […]
errore lapsus (e-ror-ee lap-s[schwa]s). [Latin] Hist. Mistaken through error. • This type of mistake was usu. not sufficient to invalidate a contract.
fatal, adj. 1. Of or relating to death; producing death (the decision had fatal consequences) (fatal blow). 2. Providing grounds for legal invalidity (a fatal defect in the contract).
derogatory clause. 1. A statutory or contractual provision proclaiming that the document in which it appears, or a part of the document, cannot be repealed or amended. • Such provisions are considered ineffective. “The one thing a sovereign legislature cannot do is truncate its own sovereignty by restricting its successors. A parliament sovereign today must
impair, vb. To diminish the value of (property or a property right). • This term is commonly used in reference to diminishing the value of a contractual obligation to the point that the contract becomes invalid or a party loses the benefit of the contract. See CONTRACTS CLAUSE.
last-in-time-marriage presumption. Family law. A presumption that the most recently contracted marriage is valid. • This presumption generally arises in a situation similar to this: A person, believing himself or herself to be divorced, remarries. This person dies, and the new spouse makes a claim for the decedent’s pension benefits. Then a former spouse, claiming
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Fictional consideration created by a court to prevent the invalidation of a contract that lacks consideration.
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Consideration that is valid under the law; consideration that either confers a pecuniarily measurable benefit on one party or imposes a pecuniarily measurable detriment on the other. — Also termed good and valuable consideration; legal consideration. [Cases: Contracts 49. C.J.S. Contracts § 87.]
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sponsalia per verba de praesenti (spon-say-lee-[schwa] p[schwa]r v[schwa]r-b[schwa] dee pri-zen-tIor pree-).Eccles. law. A type of informal marriage that occurred when the parties made an informal agreement to have each other as husband and wife. • This type of informal marriage was based on nothing more than the present consent to be married but was entirely
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lesion (lee-zh[schwa]n). 1. An injury or wound; esp., an area of wounded tissue. 2. Civil law. Loss from another’s failure to perform a contract; the injury suffered by one who did not receive the equivalent value of what was bargained for. La. Civ. Code art. 2589. — Also spelled (in sense 2) lésion. [Cases: Vendor