What are the defenses to a claimed breach of contract?

There are many valid defenses that can be raised to a claim of breach of a contract. Depending upon the particular facts and circumstances of the contract and the actions of the parties, an attorney can advice you of what makes sense. Going it alone is not the wisest choice and legal help is almost a certainty.

The more common defenses to a breach of contract claim are:

(1) One side was not competent to enter into the contract, either due to age or mental illness;

(2) One side had a "free way out" and really never provided any form of "consideration";

(3) One side was under pressure and duress or other undue influence to sign;

(4) One side engaged in "fraud" to procure the contract;

(5) One side prevented the other from fulfilling its/her/his end of the bargain;

(6) The original contract was changed with the agreement of all parties;

(7) There was a mistake of fact or mistake of law prior to signing the contract;

(8) The contract has an illegal purpose or act;

(9) Something happened, through no fault of either side, making the duties under the contract impossible to perform;

(10) The side claiming the breach accepted the performance without claiming a breach had occurred.

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