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Can an unsigned agreement be a binding contract?

A contract does not always arrive as a stack of signed paper: buying a coffee or making a spoken agreement can create legal obligations. Offer and acceptance help explain how agreement is reached; systems such as US common law also generally require consideration, an exchange of value. A written record helps prove the terms, while some transactions require particular formalities under local law.

3–6 min

Questions you could explore

  • If a spoken agreement can be a real contract, why do laws still require written documents for things like buying a house?
  • Can an emoji reaction or a one-word text message ever count as accepting a contract?

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Can an unsigned agreement be a binding contract? | Speech Topic | speaking.app