Week 6 Business Law Southern New Hampshire University Melissa Young Lucy V. Zehmer is certainly a case of be careful of what you say. Lucy and Zehmer got together one night and discussed Lucy purchasing Zehmer's farm. However, where Lucy thought this was a serious conversation and contract, Zehmer stated he intended it as a joke. In this case, Zehmer was claiming that he and his wife were not in legal contractual capacity due to both parties drinking all night before writing out and signing the contract. "In order for a contract to be legally binding, all of the individuals who signed the agreement must have "contractual capacity." Contractual capacity is a legal term that refers to the minimum mental capacity required to enter into an agreement. In other words, individuals who lack the capacity to contract are presumed to not know what they're doing, and they can "void," or set aside, the contract," (Stim, 2011) This includes with minors, individual with psychological disabilities, or due to intoxication. Zehmer was adamant that the contract was a jest, and that because both parties were drinking all night, they could not have legally created a contract. Though the court did not agree with this. The ruling was that because Lucy believed it was an agreement and contract under good faith, he had no reason to believe that Zehmer was joking about selling. Also, though there was drinking involved, they were not so intoxicated that they did not know what they were doing. Because there was no fraud, no misrepresentation, or anything of that nature, the court ordered specific performance, that being that Zehmer fulfill contract that he wrote and signed.
This ruling is something that I agree with. Although, the only people who know truly what went on that night between the two parties was themselves, using what was brought forward to the court, I agree with their ruling in favor of Lucy. This is because for all Lucy knew, nothing about this was a joke. After talking all night and having the conversation repeated return to selling the farm, Zehmer never once informed Lucy it was a joke. They even go on to say, it wasn't intended for Lucy to know. "Both of the Zehmers testified that when Zehmer asked his wife to sign he whispered that it was a joke so Lucy wouldn't hear and that is was not intended that he should hear," (Kubasek et al., 2023). Because of all of this, Lucy would not have had any reason to believe that the Zehmer's contract was not legitimate. Contracts can be tricky when you do not consider all that makes up a contract. I have two younger siblings and one night, when we were younger, I asked my little sister to do the dishes for me because I did not want to. She said she would do it if I would do the dishes in her spot for the next week. I agreed, without any intention of following through,