Question on a contract

[Jenna66]

If a contract is drawn up and one of the parties does not sign it, is it binding?


Also if at a later date they both agree, verbally, to a different arrangement, does that supercede the first (assuming the first one is binding)?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If a contract is drawn up and one of the parties does not sign it, is it binding?

It may be binding. Have the parties begun to act upon the contract as if it were signed? If so, it would be difficult to deny that a binding agreement was not made. The writing, signed by one party, can be offered as proof of the terms that were orally agreed upon and which are currently in the process of being performed to a material and significant degree. This means that the parties have already made substantial efforts to act as if there was an agreement. It would be more difficult for the party that signed the agreement to prove that it did not intend this writing to be the substance of the agreed upon terms.

Also if at a later date they both agree, verbally, to a different arrangement, does that supercede the first (assuming the first one is binding)?

The parties are generally able to agree to supercede the terms of the prior contract - after all, if they are all the parties to the contract, why should they not be able to have the ability to agree to new terms?

But don't take what I've told you as the absolute answer to your questions. I don't know the exact situation and have not read any of the terms to the agreement nor been able to determine what type of performance has been made as if a contract was created. The issues you will probably face if this ends up in court is proving the existence and terms of an oral agreement. Proving oral agreements is almost always more difficult and expensive than when a written agreement exists.