Also known as: consideration doctrine · consideration
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A requirement for the enforceability of a promise that demands a bargained-for exchange in which each party incurs a legal detriment or confers a legal benefit.
Dwight Dorsey, facing foreclosure on his home, transfers the property deed to the mortgagee in exchange for full discharge of the outstanding loan balance. The mortgagee accepts the deed and cancels the debt. The transaction satisfies the requirement of consideration because the discharge of the debt supplies the bargained-for exchange.
The President transmits a message to Congress recommending new legislation on infrastructure funding. Congress treats the message as a formal proposal and begins committee review. The communication does not illustrate the doctrine of consideration.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Daniel Diaz offers to pay Delilah Duran $50,000 to settle her pending contract claim. Duran rejects the offer. At trial Diaz attempts to introduce the offer to show the claim lacked merit. The evidence rule bars admission of the offer. The facts do not illustrate the doctrine of consideration.
Diego Duarte promises to watch Danielle Dixon's child for an afternoon without payment. While the child is in his care Duarte fails to secure a gate and the child is injured. Dixon sues for negligence. The facts illustrate tort liability for a gratuitous undertaking rather than the doctrine of consideration.
A jury awards Destiny Davis $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages against a corporate defendant. On appeal the court examines the ratio between the awards and the reprehensibility of the conduct. The facts concern due-process excessiveness review rather than the doctrine of consideration.
Dominion Capital's owners, a married couple, sign a written marital property agreement reallocating future earnings. One spouse later claims the agreement lacks consideration and is unenforceable. The statute renders the signed agreement enforceable without any exchange of consideration between the spouses.
The doctrine requires each party to incur a legal detriment or confer a legal benefit that is induced by the promise of the other. Benefit to the promisor or detriment to the promisee supplies the exchange. Past acts or preexisting duties generally do not qualify.
Supporting sources
No. The doctrine of consideration generally renders a bare promise unenforceable. Certain statutory exceptions, such as signed marital property agreements, allow enforcement without consideration. Courts do not create additional exceptions based on fairness alone.
An offer of valuable consideration during compromise negotiations is inadmissible to prove or disprove the validity or amount of a disputed claim. The rule protects the policy of encouraging settlement. The evidence remains inadmissible even if the offer is later withdrawn.
…of any information obtained as a consequence. Nor can it be claimed that judicial time and effort, assuming that is a relevant consideration, will be conserved because of the ease of application of the new rule. Today's decision leaves open such questions as whether the accused was in custody, whether his statements were…