Paper that assesses the legal problems of genuineness of assent and Essay

Paper that assesses the legal problems of genuineness of assent and what condition must prevail in order for a contractual offer to be null and void relative to absense of genuineness - Essay Example Agreements or promises made must be consented to in order to bind all the parties to a contract. Essentially, the contracting process has to be genuine. If the genuineness of assent is questionable, the underlying contract(s) might fail to be legally binding. However, there are legal challenges involved relative to proving lack of genuineness of assent in a contract context. The enforceability of a contract is subject to genuineness of assent (Miller, 2012). Contracts are effectively and efficiently performed where genuineness of assent is not questionable. When genuineness of assent is characterized by doubt or lack of it altogether, legal provisions applicable to the contract context take their course. In this respect, the primary legal problems and challenges that surround genuineness of assent include mistake, misrepresentation, undue influence, or duress (Miller, 2012). The occurrence of these factors in a contract jeopardizes voluntary consent. Mistakes in contracting can be made by one or more parties. In most cases, mistakes in contracting are either factual or value-based. On its part, misrepresentation encompasses fraudulent and non-fraudulent practices that could be perpetrated by one, more than one, or all the contracting parties. Where a contracting party’s free will is overcome by the influence of another party resulting in contract consent that is not driven by free will, undue influence is realized (Miller, 2012). Moreover, an agreement or promise made under threats or force is not genuine; an aspect referred to as duress. All these issues constitute legal problems involved in contracting as far as genuineness of assent is concerned. For a contractual offer to be null and void relative to absence of genuineness, there are conditions that must be satisfied relative to mistake, misrepresentation, undue influence, or duress in contracting (Miller, 2012). Whether the mistake is unilateral or