Elements of a valid contract include a meeting of the minds and evidence. A meeting of the minds occurs when the two parties to a contract fully understand what the contract means. A minor (under the age of 18) is considered to not yet have the mental capacity for a meeting of the minds, thereby making a contract involving a minor unbinding. (Actually, the power rests with the minor--a minor
. can swear that he or she is mature enough for the contract, thereby holding the adult in the contract bound to its terms.) A feature of a meeting of the minds is the reasonable belief that the other party is fully in agreement. For example, suppose that a sound adult is trying to buy a Jaguar car from someone for the low price of $100.00. One seller is in a mental hospital, mumbling incoherently. A reasonable person would assume that such a person is mentally unsound; therefore, a contract to buy a Jaguar from this person would be invalid. Now imagine that the seller is nicely dressed, talking clearly in a hospital lobby. This seller might be just as mentally imbalanced as the other, but does not display this. A reasonable person dealing with this seller would assume that he or she is mentally sound. Therefore, a contract with this seller would be binding. Of course, another important factor in contracts is evidence that the contract exists. Verbal contracts are binding; they're simply harder to prove. Get your contract in clear, concise writing. Have it witnessed by impartial third parties.
