To formalize an agreement between two parties, a contract must be signed to make sure that everything, which has been agreed upon, is kept in place and all involved parties are bound to it. According to The Law Handbook, the law recognizes a contract’s validity if the agreement has the following information:
– the offer and acceptance
– an intention of the parties to form a binding relation
– a promised compensation
– the parties’ legal capacity to act
– the genuine consent of all the parties involved in the contract
– the agreement’s legality
If one of those details is not present in the contract, then the contract and everything that has been talked about will no longer be considered valid. But what if your partner or the party, which you have made negotiations with, breaches or does not honor the binding agreement, can you sue for breach of contract?
Suing for Breach of Contract
First of all, a breach of contract happens when one of the partners or involved parties fails to conduct and perform the promised responsibilities under a legal contract. Aside from the failure of doing the responsibilities, they also make it impossible for the other party to act on their promises or they make it known that that clearly have no 
intention to perform according to the contract.
Second, suing partner for breaking contracts is possible under certain circumstances. First, the contract must be formalized as a written legal agreement. In most states, they follow the Statute of Frauds where it specifically states which types of contracts must be in written forms to be considered as enforceable. These contracts under Statute of Frauds include:
– Marriage Contract
– Contracts that needs to be performed for more than a year
– Land Contract
– Executor or Estate Contract
– Sale of Goods with a total of $500 or more
– Surety
When the contract falls under the Statute of Frauds, you should be suing partner for breaking contracts within a statutory limit. The Statute of Limitations a law that prescribes a time period when you should be filing a lawsuit in the court. Apparently, the statutory limits vary from one state to another. They also depend on the type of case, the circumstances of the case, and whether the lawsuit is filed in a federal court, state court, or small claims court.
Damages for a Breach of Contract
What can you sue for breach of contract? According to Abramson Legal, you can sue the breaching party for compensatory damages, consequential damages, liquidated damages, and injunctions. Now, what do each of these damages claim?
Compensatory Damages
This is usually in a form of financial compensation that is awarded to the plaintiff. But the judge can only award compensatory damages if the plaintiff is able to prove that he or she performed based on the contract and the other party did not honor the contract.
Consequential Damages
This can be recovered if you are able to prove, under reasonable circumstances, that the other party was aware or could have been aware of their incompetence of honoring the contract when it was laid down.
Liquidated Damages
If a contract will be breached, and the damages are difficult to assess, then you and everyone else involved in the contract can agree to a liquidated damages clause, which is usually stated in the contract. This clause states how much damages will be paid if one of the parties breaches or dishonors the contract.
Injunctions
If the monetary damages are not enough to compensate for the breach of contract, then the judge can order an injunction to the individual who has breached the contract. In legalese, an injunction is a judicial order that prevents a person from doing or continuing a specific action.
