A contract is an agreement of wills which one or several persons obligate themselves to one

or several other persons to perform a prestation.

A Prestation is either money, goods services or the combination of it.

A legal obligation is an obligation sanctioned by law and enforced through the courts.

A natural obligation is one that is enforced in conscious only.

A contract of adhesion is a contract where only one party sets the terms or gives the

prestation. The offeror presents the terms, and the offeree must accept and cannot negotiate.

A contract by mutual agreement is a contract where two sides negotiate and set the term of the contract. You can change the amount offered based on the negotiations.

A synallagmatic or bilateral contract is when both or all parties have an obligation to perform prestation where each party must do something for the other party.

A unilateral contract is a contract where only one side had an obligation to do something.

A onerous contract is when there is an economic value to the contract such as giving cash or putting a value on the transaction.

A gratuitous contract is when one side is doing something for free and the other side doesn’t have any obligations such as a lawyer doing pro bono work.

A donation of $1000 is a contract of adhesion, unilateral and gratuitous.

A commutative contract is when we know the end result such as buying a bag of chips and getting chips.

An aleatory contract is when the end result for the contract is uncertain such as when a team’s signs a hockey player, and he scores more goals than expected.

A contract of instantaneous performance is a contract that happens in one shot and you’re done.

A contract of successive performance is a contract with a repetition such as a cell phone contract where you pay per use.

A contract with hydro Quebec would have a contract of adhesion (cannot negotiate hydro Quebec contract), is Synallagmatic (I pay, they give me power, therefore both perform obligation), is Onerous, there is an economic value involved, (I’m giving money they are giving power), is aleatory (you’re not sure how much you pay per month), and successive (you’re constantly need electricity).

To create a contract, you need to have an exchange of consent, an excess or tacit response, legal capacity, a form (written), an object, and a cause to sign the contract.

An exchange in consent must be of free will, it cannot be forced or deceived.

Excess is when your actions are clear, want to agree such as a handshake whereas tacit is when you’re not clear but your actions signify that you’re willing to contract such as sitting down at a restaurant table where your expected to eat.

An offer that occurs with no terms ends in a reasonable time. With a term it expires on a set date. Death, bankruptcy, or protective supervision causes offer to lapse before acceptance is received.

Protective supervision is when you fall into a coma, and someone has to look over your assets.

A contract is formed upon acceptance, acceptance is an unconditional agreement that has been communicated to the person making the offer. If acceptance adds conditions to the contract than it’s a counteroffer.

Silence does not equal acceptance.

You must be of age to sign a contract. Minors of 14 years and older can contract for employment, business purposes, and for usual needs such as buying food. The parents have “of right” for other contracts unless emancipated; parents can over see anything more than a usual need.

Adults under protective supervision cannot contract. To be under protective supervision you need to be 18 years and older and don’t have the mental faculty to decide.

The three forms of protective supervision include permanent, temporary, and assistance.

A contract needs a cause because there needs to be a reason to exist for the contract.If there is an illegal reason to enter into the contract than the contract is nullified. However, there is a grey zone where if the legality violates public order law (laws you cannot adjust) there is no negotiation.

The form could be a handshake or a nod, there is no required specific wording or form in contract, in some circumstances such as marriage you need to have a written contract. A lease contains a blend of both verbal and written.

Your allowed to record conversations but can’t just wear a hot mic, there is a fine line between being allowed to record and not allowed to record.

After a contract is formed and you realize you don’t like the contract you can nullify a contract.

Nullify: to reset from the beginning as if the contract never existed, involves giving back the original exchanges

Cancel: Everything happens before it is ended stays

An error must be a real but not a personal mistake. A personal mistake involves buying thinking your buying X but is really Y.

Fraud, or error by fraud, is when someone is being deceived by being told false information and based on that information enter into the contract.

No contract can be done out of fear either physical or authority or someone or makes you do something you don’t want to do.

Lesion is when you take financial advantage of the person i such as charging a 17-year-old $20, 000 for a car. Only the person deceived can nullify the contract. Only adults and inapt adults can use lesion.

Null: The contract is terminated, and the party is put back into the same state prior to accepting the contract. Contracts not meeting conditions of formation can be declared null.

If a violation is a public order law, it is always null.

If someone isn’t doing their part of the contract, performance failure allows creditor to reduce or refuse to perform obligations or depending on the circumstances nullify the contract.

You don’t have to give back the asset before you pay them. A car mechanic doesn’t have to give the car back until you pay them.

If you don’t put deadlines in a contract, you can default but first you must give them a chance to perform their legal obligations through contract stipulating deadlines, by extrajudicial demand, and by operation of law.

Civil code sets out the principle of interpretation which tries to uncover the real intention of parties through emails, text messages, historical nature of relations.

The principles of interpretation can find out what the negotiated for in the past, what clauses might be interpreted similar to other clauses and existing clause.

In contracts of adhesion, the accepting party is given benefit of the doubt.

Benefit of the doubt is when you go to court and the parties are in gridlock, they must debate to see which party is more right.

Incidental or non-expressed associated obligations exist.

Illegible or incomprehensible (wordy) clauses are null unless explained.

Abusive clauses are null. Any clause that takes advantage of someone is nullified. A nullified clause does not make the entire contract invalid.

Damages cab be immediate and direct. They can include bodily, moral or material damages.

Moral damages are when you experience distress and are psychological.

When assessing damages, you need to compensate for loss sustained, deprived profit, so you can be made whole again.

You can ask for future damages if you are certain and you can assess.

Punitive damages are damages aimed at the person specially involved.

Penal clauses are damages that are put into the contract as a penalty for failure to complete. If you fail to do something, there’s a consequence you agreed upon.