What constitutes the breach of a verbal agreement?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What constitutes the breach of a verbal agreement?
My 18 year old sister bought a dog from her school friend. The friend’s mother is now (6 months later) harassing my sister about returning the dog since my sister “violated the verbal agreement to neuter the dog”. The woman keeps telling my sister that she “is just a child and doesn’t know the way the legal system works”. My sister and the woman had no prior contact before today.
Asked on December 19, 2014 under Business Law, Oklahoma
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
A verbal--or more accurately, oral--agreement is breached the same way a written agreement is breached: if someone does not do what the agreement obligated or required them to do. The main difference between an oral and a written agreement in this regard is that with an oral agreement, it can be harder to prove what exactly was (and was not) in the agreement, since there is no writing to refer to: the agreement has to be proven in court (if there is a lawsuit) by the testimony of the parties to the agreement, telling what they recall the terms to have been.
New terms cannot be added after the fact: if there there was no agreement *as part of the sale* that your sister would neuter the dog, she does not have to (though it would be a good idea). Even if it was discussed later, if it wasn't part of the agreement under which the friend sold the dog (i.e. it wasn't a condition of sale that the dog would be neutured), your sister does not need to do anything in regards to neutering.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.