A contract between two parties who each make a promise to perform certain acts is called

Promissory estoppel is the legal principle that a promise is enforceable by law, even if made without formal consideration when a promisor has made a promise to a promisee who then relies on that promise to his subsequent detriment. Promissory estoppel is intended to stop the promisor from arguing that an underlying promise should not be legally upheld or enforced.

The doctrine of promissory estoppel is part of the law in the United States and other countries, although the precise legal requirements for promissory estoppel vary not only between countries, but also between different jurisdictions, such as states, within the same country.

• Estoppel is a legal principle that keeps people and businesses from, essentially, going back on their word or promise.
• Promissory estoppel helps injured parties to recover on promises made that have led to economic loss when not met.

Promissory estoppel serves to enable an injured party to recover on a promise. There are common legally required elements for a person to make a claim for promissory estoppel: a promisor, a promisee, and a detriment that the promisee has suffered. An additional requirement is that the person making the claim—the promisee—must have reasonably relied on the promise. In other words, the promise was one that a reasonable person would ordinarily rely on.

Another requirement further qualifies the required detriment component; the promisee must have suffered an actual substantial detriment in the form of an economic loss that results from the promisor failing to deliver on their promise. Finally, promissory estoppel is usually only granted if a court determines that enforcing the promise is essentially the only means by which injustice to the promisee can be rectified.

An example of promissory estoppel might be applied in a case where an employer makes an oral promise to an employee to pay the employee a specified monthly or annual amount of money throughout the full duration of the employee's retirement. If the employee then subsequently retires based on a reliance on the employer's promise, the employer could be legally estopped from not delivering on his promise to make the specified retirement payments.

Contract law generally requires that a person receive consideration for making a promise or agreement. Legal consideration is a valuable asset that is exchanged between two parties to a contract at the time of a promise or agreement.

Ordinarily, some form of consideration, either an exchange of money or a promise to refrain from some action, is required for a contract to be legally enforceable. However, in attempting to ensure justice or fairness, a court may enforce a promise even in the absence of any consideration, provided that the promise was reasonably relied on and that reliance on the promise resulted in a detriment to the promisee.

A unilateral contract is a contract agreement in which an offeror promises to pay after the occurrence of a specified act. In general, unilateral contracts are most often used when an offeror has an open request in which they are willing to pay for a specified act.

An example of a unilateral contract is an insurance policy contract, which is usually partially unilateral. In a unilateral contract, the offeror is the only party with a contractual obligation.

Unilateral contracts are primarily one-sided.

Unilateral contracts specify an obligation from the offeror. In a unilateral contract, the offeror promises to pay for specified acts that can be open requests, random, or optional for other parties involved.

Unilateral contracts are considered enforceable by contract law. However, legal issues typically do not arise until the offeree claims to be eligible for remuneration tied to acts or occurrences.

As such, legal contestation generally involves cases where the offering party refuses to pay the offered sum. The determination of contract breach would then depend on whether or not the terms of the contract were clear and if it can be proven that the offeree is eligible for payment of specified acts based on the contract’s provisions.

• Unilateral contracts are one-sided, requiring only a pre-arranged commitment from the offeror.
• Unilateral contracts are usually used to make open or optional offers.

Unilateral contracts are primarily one-sided without a significant obligation from the offeree. Open requests and insurance policies are two of the most common types of unilateral contracts.

In the open economy, offerors may use unilateral contracts to make a broad or optional request which is only paid for when certain specifications are met. If an individual or individuals fulfill the specified act, the offeror is required to pay. Rewards are a common type of unilateral contract request.

In criminal cases, a reward may be available for important information provided about the case. Reward funds can be paid to a single individual or several individuals offering information that meets specified criteria.

A unilateral contract could also involve an open request for labor. An individual or company could advertise a request that they agree to pay for if the task is completed. For example, Keith could advertise to pay $2,000 for safely moving his boat into storage. If Carla responds to the advertisement and takes the boat into storage then Keith would have to pay $2000.

Insurance policies have unilateral contract characteristics. In the case of an insurance contract, the insurer promises to pay if certain acts occur under the terms of a contract’s coverage. In an insurance contract, the offeree pays a premium specified by the insurer to maintain the plan and receive an insurance allotment if a specified event occurs.

Insurance companies use statistical probabilities to determine the reserves they need to cover the payouts of the clients they insure. Some insurance cases may never include an occurrence leading to liability by the insurer while extreme cases require the insurance company to pay out large sums of money for an occurrence covered under a client’s insurance plan.

Contracts can be unilateral or bilateral. In a unilateral contract, only the offeror has an obligation. In a bilateral contract, both parties agree to an obligation. Typically, bilateral contracts involve equal obligation from the offeror and the offeree. In general, the primary distinction between unilateral and bilateral contracts is a reciprocal obligation from both parties.