If a contract brings you to court, it is a poorly-prepared contract. The rationale for this statement is this – if the rights and obligations of the parties are clearly provided and defined, there is a lesser chance of misinterpretation. This, of course, is not necessarily true. Even a carefully drafted contract, prepared by the big law firms, may still end up in court if the parties do not comply in good faith with their respective obligations. Still, it would be better to know the basic elements of a contract.
WHAT IS A CONTRACT?
A contract is a meeting of the minds between two persons whereby one binds himself, with respect to the other, to give something or to render some services. A contract is also defined as “a juridical convention manifested in legal form, by virtue of which one or more persons bind themselves in favor of another or others, or reciprocally, to the fulfillment of a prestation to give, to do, or not to do.” A contract binds both contracting parties and has the force of law between them.
ELEMENTS OF A CONTRACT
There are different kinds of contracts and there may be a host of additional provisions to a basic contract. These flavors and add-ons will be further discussed in this series on contracts. Right now, let us start with the basics – the 3 elements or requisites of a contract. There can be no contract unless the following requisites are present:
- (1) consent of the contracting parties;
- (2) object certain which is the subject matter of the contract; and
- (3) cause of the obligation which is established.
1. CONSENT
Contracts are generally perfected by mere consent, which is the reason why there’s such a thing as oral contracts. It’s a meeting of the minds between the parties: there’s a definite offer by one person and there’s an absolute acceptance by another.
2. SUBJECT MATTER
A thing, right or service may be the object or subject matter of a contract. All things that are outside the commerce of man (e.g., the moon, public properties) may not be the object of a contract. Rights that are transmissible (e.g., the right to possess a real property) may be the subject of a contract. Services, on the other hand, must not be contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order of public policy (e.g., services of an assassin or a prostitute).
3. CAUSE
The cause varies according to the type of contracts:
- (a) for onerous contracts, the cause is the promise of a thing or service by the other;
- (b) for remunatory contracts, the cause is the service or benefit which is being remunerated; and
- (c) for contracts of pure beneficence, the cause is the mere liberality of the benefactor.
These concepts may appear alien, but since this is merely a brief discussion, suffice it to state that a “cause” is technically different from a contract’s object (or subject matter, as discussed above) or motive.
These three requisites are important because there’s no perfected contract without them. This discussion is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and future discussions will hopefully clarify certain matters that may be of interest to entrepreneurs, considering that contracts are inseparable from business transactions.
- Twin-Notice Rule and Procedural Requirements in Employment Termination Proceedings - June 3, 2020
- When Travel Pass is Needed for Interzonal Travel during Community Quarantine - June 1, 2020
- Can Companies Compel Employees to Work during the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and Impose Disciplinary Sanctions - May 29, 2020
Just want to know all about the legality of the contract and its importance in any different situations and why it is necessarily needed?
Thank you po!!!
how do you defend a case filed for collection of sum of money if the contract signed does not contain the correct name of the borrower?
Hi,
I’m currently working as a home-based online teacher and during the orientation it was not discussed that we need to print out working contract and have it notarized so that the pay will be released. I just want to know who is responsible to have contracts notarized, is it the employer or the employee? And do they have the right to hold the salary when it was fully discussed during the orientation that it’ll be released on the next cut off.
Thanks
Gusto ko po itanong if obligado ba magbayad mother ko ng 40% as per agreement nila ng lawyer nya sa isang lot case? The case has not been heard even once. When it was sent to the Supreme Court, my mother decided to offer 40% kasi akala nya pupunta pa sya ng Manila para dun maghearing. So she signed an agreement na kung mananalo sa kaso the lawyer gets 40% nga. Kaso nung sinabi ng Supreme Court na kailangan mahearing ang case sa Regional Trial Court namatay ang lawyer nya so hindi na nya natapos ang kaso. HIs cousin takes over and according to him we cant get another lawyer because there was a contract between my mother and his cousin. Only recently we agreed for an amicable settlement. So my question is are we obliged to pay 40% to the present lawyer when there was no fight in the court? Is the contract between my mother and the late lawyer binding even if the services is not fully rendered?
Hi po,
Gusto ko lang po itanong, nakapirma na po ako ng 1year contract sa agency namin, then a week after tinawagan nila ako ang pipirma nanaman ako ng 6mos na contract nagkamali daw po sila. Ano po ang maari kong gawin sa sitwasyon ko? Salamat po
I would like to ask if there is any possible solution on my problem. A used car was offered to me by a friend of mine. The car was technically not in good running condition for it was parked in his garage for quite sometime. Although it was running but its engine was stuck on third gear ( automatic trans). Since that person owed me P20,000 and car selling price was for 50 with an option to pay it on installment basis. I spent more than P10,000 to have the car fixed as i was permitted by the seller to get it fix first before paying the remaining balance. Or/cr and deed of sale will be given to me when i am fully paid. The car was in my posession for more than a month then it was borrowed by the owner with the promise of returning it after 2 weeks. It has been 2 months now and it was never returned. I am humbly seeking for your legal advise, please help me for i dont know what to do, i am very much thankful if this letter will be gven a favorable response. Thank you.
I would like to know the best way to execute a good contract online since my partner is based overseas and service will be done locally. Are e-documents with digital signature just as good as paper documents? What is my best option on this situation? Thanks.
Hi, my friend offered me, in the Facebook messenger conversation, that he will give me a 10% comission of the total amount of the product that my friends will purchase from him in every shipment for me to encourage my friends to buy his product in huge quantity he said as minimum order for 1 shipment and become distributors im their respective area. It was good at first he’s paying the right amount until the 6th shipments but after that his wife changed the computation it became so far low that what’s agreed and threatens me that I should also order from them a wholesale of huge quantity every month so that they will give me my commisions of the shipments bought by my friends. My friends already had 12 shipment total and his wife don’t want to give me what is supposed to be my commision. I have made a screenshot of all our conversations about the agreement.and also the messages feom his wife about the changes in the computation and the threat. Do I have a chance to win this case in case I will sue them? Does the oral agrewment really exists? In my case I have save all the screenshots of the promises he made and the threats from his wife with their fb profiles in it, will this still be called an oral or verbal agreement?
Is a three pages employment agreement considered an employment contract?
I was asked to be moved temporarily to another role completely different from the nature of work stated in my contract for the reason that our department do not have any workload. Furthermore, they mentioned it is just temporary, so I agreed. almost 6 months has passed and no workload from my contract is given. What options do I have for this? Is this a case of breaching of contract? What are the possible labor case if ever?
Hi, Pahingi naman po ako ng mga sample ng TO GIVE TO DO and NOT TO DO sa oblicon. Thanks