Eth 321 - Elements of a Contract

Elements of a Contract

Brian C. Cassidy

ETH 321

NOV 2, 2014

Angela Beetem

Elements of a Contract

The elements of the contract scenario for Jack is that Jack is a successful family-operated antique and curio business at a local flea market that sells in antiques and make sure that he checks listing for when people retire or decide to move into assistant living quarter, people tend to sell off many of their items because their new place do not have the room they have now. Jack takes advantage of this elderly people to make a profit. Acquiring  the china in question was worth way more than the 150 dollars that he paid for and many would consider that a unethical decision. Taking advantage of an elderly woman that has shown a decline in mental abilities.

 The daughter spots the merchandise that Jack bought from her mother and told Jack that her mother was not competent enough to sell such an item for that price and requested to buy the china back for double the money Jack paid for, but Jack refuses stating it was a legal sale and therefore entitled to the merchandise. Jack then is served with legal process seeking return of the china, or, its value, which was estimated to be $25,000.00.

Jack has two choice he either can hire a layer in which the lawyer will have to prove that the lady in question was actually suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and leave that up to the judge or return the item for the price the daughter was offering. If Jack decides to hire a lawyer, they will have to determine if the contract was valid. In my opinion, Jack will lose his case due to Undue Influence. Undue influence gives influenced party to avoid a contract where the court determines that the terms of the contract are unfair and the parties had some type of relationship that involved a fiduciary duty or some duty to care for the influenced party( Melvin, P. Pg 150)