Question

question? Odelia offers in writing to sell her ranch to Erik for $150,000. A week later, when Erik is about to mail his acceptance, Odelia dies in a motor vehicle accident. Odelia’s heir informs Erik that she is no longer interested in selling the ranch. Erik decides to resolve the dispute in court, stating that the offer cannot be revoked since he had already decided to accept the offer and was about to mail his acceptance. Analyze the case and discuss what the court is likely to rule.

Answer: It is true that Odelia offered her ranch in writing but because she died this contract can be terminated. Although they both did not act to terminate the contract, there are certain circumstances by law that that dictates that the offer has been terminated. The court can take this into consideration if this happened before the acceptance. Because Erik “ was about to mail” his acceptance and did not formally send it yet, then this contract can be terminated. The court could have looked at the “mailbox’’ rule, but this only applies when the offeree dispatches it. Erik had not yet “deposited” his acceptance so it does not count as a binding contract. The court will probably rule in favor of the heir because Odelia is no longer here to make the offer happen.

PLEASE WRITE A SHORT RESPONSE TO THIS DISCUSSION.

Answer 1

Issue: Odella offers in writing to sell her ranch to Erik for $ 150,000. Before Erik could accept, Odella dies. Is there an enforceable contract?

Law: A contract is an agreement enforceable by law. An agreement is an accepted offer. Acceptance of an offer must be communicated to the offeror by the offeree. Communication may be express or implied. An offer lapses under certain circumstances, e.g., death of offeror before the offer was accepted, and the communication of the acceptance is complete. Even if the offeror dies after the offer has been accepted, the legal representatives of the offeror are liable under the contract.

The 'mailbox rule' is the default rule under contract law for determining the time at which an offer is accepted, states that an offer is considered accepted at the time that the acceptance is communicated (whether by mail e-mail, etc). Parties can alter their contract to not use the mailbox rule to and determine between themselves at what time an offer will be considered accepted.

Application: An offer needs to be accepted by the offeree in order to culminate in an agreement. Further it should be communicated to the offeror. Silence cannot tantamount to acceptance. In the given situation, an offer was made by Odella, but before it was formally accepted by Erik, she passes away. Erik had decided to accept Odella's offer, but had not yet communicated it to her, did not initiate the mail. The mailbox rule cannot therefore apply here. Hence, under the circumstances, there is no agreement, let alone a legally enforceable contract.

Conclusion: As the agreement is void, Erik would not be able to resolve the dispute in any court of law.