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Good and valuable consideration

Posted by Pdianek on October 18, 2003

In Reply to: Good and valuable consideration posted by Lewis on October 17, 2003

In English and American law, the consideration (G&VC) could be something as trivial-seeming to us now as a single peppercorn (in the days when spices were harder to come by, these contracts were known as "peppercorn agreements") or a single red rose in June, or -- more difficult to obtain! -- in December.

For something to be considered "of worth", moreover, it needs to be of worth only to the contracting parties. Someone else, looking at the contract, may say, "hey, who'd want a dozen cookies as payment for land?", but if that's what the seller regards as valuable (perhaps he's a man selling land to his granddaughter, and a dozen cookies made with her own hands would mean more to him than hard cash), then that's appropriate G&VC. And legal.

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