Formal Requirements

Certain contracts must meet certain formal requirements.

For example a contract for the sale of land must now be made in writing. An oral contract for the sale of land is not enforceable. There are other contracts that must be made in writing or by deed but most contracts can be made orally.

The problem with oral contracts is an evidential problem as to what were the terms. The parol evidence rule says that where there is a written contract the terms of the contract are those that are written even though there may be evidence of oral terms. There are exceptions to the parol evidence rule and the Courts have also used the idea of oral collateral contracts to circumvent it.