However, the woman will have to get the promise in writing. Furthermore, the woman's remedy would not be to force the man to marry her, but to receive compensation for the monetary damages that she suffered as a result of the move.
While the English Act for the Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries covered the type of agreement just described, it also covered other types of promises made in contemplation of marriage. Perhaps one of the most common of those scenarios was when a woman would allege that a man promised to marry her if they engaged in certain sexual activities. A man who made such a promise might later deny it.
The final type of contract involves those contracts that cannot be completed in less than a year. An example of that type of contract is a contract for a two-year gym membership. A typical contract would provide a customer with a certain amount of gym access in exchange for a monthly payment for a certain amount of months. Even if the total amount of the contract is less than $500, because it is impossible for either the customer or the gym to fulfill their contractual obligations in a period of less than one year.
However, there is an importance difference between contracts that contemplate a performance that will take longer than one year and contracts that cannot be completed within one year. For example, a construction contract that requires the builder to erect a home within 18 months is not a contract that cannot be performed within one year. The builder could always complete the home within a one-year time period. Therefore, the contract falls outside of that area of the Statute of Frauds.
What Qualifies as a Writing
The Statute of Frauds does not require a written contract. "The common term is 'evidenced by a writing'" (Rain). Therefore, a number of different types of writings may be sufficient. The contract may be pieced together from several different documents, as long as the documents clearly refer to the same transaction.
Furthermore, the Statute of Frauds generally requires that a writing be signed by the party against whom it is to be enforced. However, many things besides an actual signature satisfy this requirement. For example, an order placed by a purchaser to a supplier on the purchaser's letterhead will be enforceable against the purchaser. Likewise, an order placed by a purchaser to a supplier that is not on company letterhead, but that was faxed from the purchaser's fax machine or sent from the purchaser's email address will probably be enforceable against the purchaser.
In many states, confirmatory memorandum, if not contradicted by the other party, can become enforceable against either party. For example, imagine that a bride has gone to a florist and looked at a certain number of floral arrangements for her wedding. She goes home to decide what type of arrangements she wants, and then calls the florist to inform him of her choice. She tells him that she wants 10 of the rose arrangements. The florist then sends a confirmation fax to the bride, stating that she has ordered 10 arrangements, consisting of roses and baby's breath, at $45 per arrangement. In many states, if the bride accepts the confirmatory memorandum without objection, it is sufficient to satisfy the Statute of Frauds.
Furthermore, to satisfy the writing requirement, the writing does not have to be mutual. If one party writes down an agreement for his own personal use, the agreement may be enforceable against that party, but not the other. This situation could arise frequently for salesmen taking orders, or people who do customized work.
Finally, given the proliferation of alternative types of media, there may no longer be a requirement of a writing in order to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. In some jurisdictions, a tape, video recording, or other form of electronic media may satisfy the writing requirement. In fact, two major pieces of legislation, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National commerce Act (E-Sign) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) mandate that a contract is not to be "deemed invalid merely because it is in electronic form" (Huey, 683).
Exemptions
Not all contracts that appear to fall under the Statute of Frauds are unenforceable without a writing. One of the most common exceptions is for the sales of goods that are to be specially manufactured for the buyer, which are not suitable for sale to others. Another common exception is that, if a party admits...
Statute of Limitations for Fraud This refers to the maximum time legal action may be brought against someone for the commission of a fraud. This Statute depends on the jurisdiction. Most federal crimes in general have up to 5 years to prosecute. Capital offenses, however, have no Statutes of limitation. Federal frauds carry 10 years Statutes of limitation. These include frauds committed against banks and financial institutions and involving passports or citizenship.
Fraud and Abuse United States v. Greber -- 3rd Circuit, 1985 Facts: Dr. Greber's company, Cardio-Med, supplied Holter monitors, a device worn by patients that records heartbeats for later interpretation. Investigations showed that Cardio-Med billed Medicare and gave a portion of each payment to the prescribing physician, under the heading, "interpretation fees," even when Dr. Greber actually did the interpretation of the data. It was found that the fixed percentage paid to the
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