Understanding Verbal Contracts
Posted by John on Jun 6, 2013 in Business | Comments OffAll businesses and companies involve contracts. These contracts are generally written down and documented, for legal purposes, but sometimes verbal contracts are created as well. Verbal contracts are legally binding, and anyone who makes a verbal contract can be held to the stipulations laid out in that verbal conversation. Verbal contracts can create headaches for business owners, particularly when someone you make a contract with does not fulfill the terms of the verbal contract in question. However, these contracts can be inclusive, and can be enforced legally with the help of a business lawyer, just like written contracts.
What Verbal Contracts Can Include
Basically, a verbal contract can be legally binding in a huge variety of business issues, usually including all of those that are documented in written contracts. This means that verbal contracts can be very inclusive, and might involve verbal agreements on the following:
- Business structure
- Payment distribution
- Employee/employer relationships
- Shareholder agreements
- Real estate commitments
- Corporate contracts
- Mergers / acquisitions
All of these issues can arise in a verbal conversation, and a verbal contract may be just as enforceable as a written one. Though verbal contracts can be more difficult to prove, because they are verbal, it is possible to hold another person responsible for the agreements he or she makes in a verbal conversation.
