Question

On January 1, Damon, for consideration, orally promised to pay Gary $300 a month for as long as Gary lived, with the payments to be made on the first day of every month. Damon made the payments regularly for nine months and then made no further payments. Gary claimed that Damon had breached the oral contract and sued Damon for damages. Damon contented that the contract was unenforceable because, under the Statute of Frauds, contracts that cannot be performed within one year must be in writing.

Required:
Discuss whether Damon will succeed in this defense.

Answer 1

In this case, a trial court would probably enforce the contract because although the statute of Frauds requires contracts for longer than one year to be willing to be enforceable, since it is possible that Gray may die within the year coupled with the showing by Damon of none months payments, the contract is enforceable. As a result, the Statute of Frauds would be enforceable because the oral contract was possible to fulfill within the one-year .