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:
“On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provision for discourse.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“Smoking ... is downright dangerous. Most people who smoke will eventually contract a fatal disease and die. But they don’t brag about it, do they? Most people who ski, play professional football or drive race cars, will not die—at least not in the act—and yet they are the ones with the glamorous images, the expensive equipment and the mythic proportions. Why this should be I cannot say, unless it is simply that the average American does not know a daredevil when he sees one.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)