Law
Lapse of offer
Lapse of offer refers to the termination of an offer due to the passage of time, rejection, or revocation by the offeror. Once an offer lapses, it cannot be accepted by the offeree. The lapse of an offer is important in contract law as it determines the validity and enforceability of the offer.
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3 Key excerpts on "Lapse of offer"
eBook - PDF- Martin Frey(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. STEP TWO: CONTRACT FORMATION 43 The Offer May Lapse An offer may lapse either expressly or impliedly. EXPRESS LAPSE An offer may state when the offer will expire. EXAMPLE “This offer will be held open until noon on Saturday, July 16th.” When the offer has an end date and time, the offeror and offeree have some certainty. The offeror knows that if the offeree has not accepted the offer before the specified time, the offer has lapsed and the offeror is free to make other plans without informing the offeree. The offeree knows that his or her power to accept has come to an end. The offeree also knows that the offeror may revoke the offer prior to the express lapse date. PROBLEM 2-19 Describe a situation in which the offeror would find it desirable to have an express termination date in the offer. PROBLEM 2-20 Describe a situation in which the offeree would find it desirable to have an express termination date in the offer. IMPLIED LAPSE If the offer has not been accepted and does not state a time by which the offer must be accepted, the offer will lapse within a reasonable time. Implied lapse, therefore, is the termination of the offeree’s power to accept the offer through the offeree’s failure to exercise that power within a reasonable time. “A rea- sonable time” will vary with each transaction. An important factor in determining reasonable time will be the subject matter of the offer. PROBLEM 2-21 Arrange the following four situations in order from the shortest to the longest “reasonable time” before an implied lapse occurs. None of the offers con- tains an express expiration time.
eBook - PDF- Richard Mann, Barry Roberts(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
When the offeree dies or ceases to have legal capability to enter into a contract, no one else has the power to accept the offer. Therefore, the offer necessarily terminates. The death or incompetency of the offeror or offeree, however, does not terminate an offer contained in an option. Destruction of Subject Matter [10-2f] Destruction of the specific subject matter of an offer ter- minates the offer. Suppose that Sarah, owning a Buick, offers to sell the car to Barbara and allows Barbara five days in which to accept. Three days later the car is destroyed by fire. On the following day, Barbara, without knowledge of the destruction of the car, notifies Sarah that she accepts Sarah’s offer. There is no contract. The destruction of the car terminated Sarah’s offer. Subsequent Illegality [10-2g] One of the essential requirements of a contract, as we previously mentioned, is legality of purpose or subject matter. If performance of a valid contract is subsequently made illegal, the obligations of both parties under the contract are discharged. Illegality taking effect after the making of an offer but prior to acceptance has the same effect: the offer is legally terminated. For an illustration of the duration of revocable offers, see Figure 10-1. ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER The acceptance of an offer is essential to the formation of a contract. Once an effective acceptance has been given, the contract is formed. Acceptance of an offer for a bilat- eral contract is some overt act by the offeree that mani- fests his assent to the terms of the offer, such as speaking or sending a letter, or using other explicit or implicit com- munication to the offeror. If the offer is for a unilateral contract, acceptance is the performance of the requested act with the intention of accepting.
- R. J. Marks, R. J. E. Marks, R. E. Jackson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Pergamon(Publisher)
If it is not accepted within a reasonable time it is deemed to lapse and cannot afterwards be accepted. 3 There is no general rule defining the length of a reasonable time. What is a reasonable time has to be ascertained in each case from all the circumstances. The general rules about revocation of offers, described in the preceding two paragraphs, can be abrogated by the parties if they so wish. They can stipulate, if they choose, that an offer should remain open for a prescribed period of time or, indeed, that it should remain open indefinitely. These stipulations, however, if they are to have binding effect, must form the subject of a contract - a preliminary contract to the principal contract contemplated by the parties - which is itself governed by the rules described in this chapter. In addition to revocation and lapse of time, an offer may also be terminated by the occurrence of a stipulated or implied condition, or by the death of one of the parties, but this will always be a matter of construction depending on the terms and wording of the offer. 1 Dickinson v. Dodds [1876] Ch. 2 D. 463. 2 Peter Lind & Co. Ltd. v. Mersey Docks & Harbour Board [1972] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 234. 3 Ramsgate Hotel Co. v. Montefiore (1866) L.R. 1 Ex. 109. 22 CIVIL ENGINEERING: CONTRACT PROCEDURE The Acceptance The acceptance of an offer must be unconditional and it must be communicated to the person who makes the offer. In order to be unconditional the terms of the acceptance must corres-pond precisely with the terms of the offer. This does not mean that the acceptance need set out all the words used in the offer: the words U I accept your offer constitute an unconditional acceptance. But if the person to whom the offer is made introduces into a purported acceptance some new term that is either contrary to a term of the offer or that is not contained in the offer, the acceptance is not unconditional and does not bring a binding contract into existence.
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