Are verbal agreements legally enforceable? Robert Popescu writes for Lawyer.com to shed some light on the issue:
With certain exceptions, most States recognize the enforceability of verbal agreements between two individuals. Of course, as is the case with most rules of law, this general proposition is subject to exceptions. Most such exceptions are listed in the so-called “Statute of Frauds” of the jurisdiction in which the agreement was made.
If an exception applies, the contract will be deemed unenforceable because it was not memorialized in a written document. Such exceptions may include the following:
Any contractual obligation which cannot possibly be performed within one year from the date of the agreement must be in writing in order to be enforceable. For example, if a verbal agreement is reached on January 1, 2013, pursuant to which one of the parties is hired to work at a specified salary for a period of two years, such agreement will not be deemed enforceable because the employment will not end on or before January 1, 2014. By contrast, a verbal hiring agreement for a period of only 11 months will be enforceable.
Author: Robert S. Popescu, Esq.
The article in its entirety may be seen here.
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