Increasing the strength of a contract in Florida is easy – all you need to do is hire an experienced lawyer to do it for you. However, that does not mean you should not take the steps to know what makes a contract strong. This knowledge will help you get better at your job. As a business owner, understanding how contracts work is vital, as contracts are the foundation of all strong business relationships. Read on to learn what you need to know.
The Importance of Having Strong Contracts
The reason businesses should regulate every single one of their business relationships is that they need to make sure both parties know exactly what is expected of them so that the relationship between them – and by extension, their businesses – operates smoothly and efficiently. In addition, having a comprehensive and tailored contract establishing the terms of a business relationship will prevent disputes by removing any potential ambiguities. However, if a dispute were to arise, a strong contract will provide detailed instructions regarding how the issue should be resolved.
All business contracts in Florida should include:
- what each party must do and what they should expect the other party to do;
- what is being purchased/sold;
- how disputes between the parties should be resolved;
- who will pay for what, how they will pay, when they will have to pay, and how much they will have to pay; and
- when the contract will end.
Increasing the Strength of a Contract in Florida
Here is a list of the elements you should include in every single one of your contracts:
Offer
All contracts should clearly establish what the company providing the service or product is offering to the other party. The offer section of a contract should explicitly state the extent of the work that will be performed and everything the party that will perform it plans on doing, no matter how self-explanatory it might be.
Consideration
For a contract to be legally binding, it must have consideration. The parties need to exchange something of value. One side provides something, and the other side pays for it with something else. In contract law, this is referred to as “consideration.” Just like the offer, consideration must be written clearly and unambiguously.
Capacity
Both parties to a contract must be in sound mind at the time of agreeing to the terms and signing the contract. In other words, both parties must have the legal capacity to sign the contract and understand what signing it means for them.
Mutuality
Both parties to a contract must be held accountable for their end of the agreement. If a contract fails to clearly state that both parties can and will be held accountable, then the contract is not valid. In other words, the strength of a contract in Florida depends on whether both parties have something equally important and valuable to lose if they fail to meet their contractual obligations but also something to gain.
Legality
Obviously, if meeting the obligations established in a contract involves performing an illegal activity, the whole contract is void, even if the parties are not aware that something they are agreeing to do is illegal at the time of signing.
Acceptance
The parties to a contract must fully understand every provision in it and fully agree to them. Even after reading a contract several times, you might still not be able to fully understand it, as most people are unfamiliar with the legal terminology used in the majority of contracts. So, you should never sign anything before your attorney reviews it.
Do you have any questions? I can answer them. Give me a call today at (305) 921-0976 or email me at [email protected] to learn how I can help you protect your business.
