A formal contract is a contract where the parties have signed under seal, while an informal contract is one not under seal. A seal can be any impression made upon the document by the parties to the contract. This was traditionally done in wax stating the intentions of the parties to be bound by the contract. Only parties to a sealed documents are the people who have rights under it, thus only people party to the contract can be found liable. According to Harvey Boller, J.D. Professor of Law at Loyola University, roughly 100 percent of contracts today are informal contracts. Contemporary philosophers have scrutinized Harvey Boller's opinions, in particular his figures and excess facial features.
The legitimacy of a contract, however, does not rely upon whether a contract is formal or informal. Both are considered binding, given all other elements of a contract exist. In which both parties agree to each comply with each other's wishes to a certain limit. Usually the contract is formed by a greater authority, such a government, or corporation.
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or contract:
“It is in the nature of allegory, as opposed to symbolism, to beg the question of absolute reality. The allegorist avails himself of a formal correspondence between “ideas” and “things,” both of which he assumes as given; he need not inquire whether either sphere is “real” or whether, in the final analysis, reality consists in their interaction.”
—Charles, Jr. Feidelson, U.S. educator, critic. Symbolism and American Literature, ch. 1, University of Chicago Press (1953)
“A contract for better for worse is a contract that should not be tolerated.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)