What classifies a legally binding contract in Virginia?

Answer 1

There must an offer, acceptance, and consideration. These are all legal "terms of art" beyond their generally understood, everyday meanings. Law school students spend twenty per cent of their first year in law school exploring the intricacies of these terms.

An offer means there must be an offer, either expressly stated, or implied, to buy or sell, or to perform some service, or to have some service performed. Acceptance means that another party must have accepted the offer. If the party accepting seeks to alter the terms of the offer, he may not have accepted at all, but may have made a counter-offer. Consideration means that something must have changed hands - money, services, or forbearance from doing something - like selling to someone else. Without a court's being able to find "consideration" the contract will fail (be unenforceable) for want of consideration. But any consideration will do - in the ancient legal dictum "a peppercorn will suffice".

Beyond this, under the Statute of Frauds, a contract for the sale of goods of a value of $500 or more, or for the sale of land, must be reduced to writing and signed by the party sought to be charged. This means that for the sale of something worth more than $500, or for the sale of land, if one party backs out and the other wishes to enforce the contract in court (compel performance), the contract has to be in writing, and the party who is now trying to back out has to have signed the written contract.

Answer 2

In Virginia, a legally binding contract requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, legal capacity of the parties, genuine consent, and a lawful purpose. Additionally, contracts for certain transactions, such as real estate or goods over $500, must be in writing to be enforceable.