Are There Ways To Get Out Of A Contract?

You may have signed a contract for your small business that you really shouldn’t have. Or you are being asked to perform under an agreement and think that such demand is not what you agreed to or feel as if it is just simply unfair. So you ask yourself, “are there ways to get out of this contract?”

The other party to the agreement may demand all kinds of things, but before you get defeated, you’d better make sure that the contract actually obligates you to do what the other party demands. Please read the agreement in its entirety. What does it state concerning your particular problem?

Are You Able To Terminate The Contract?

Check if the language of the agreement itself offers a way out of the obligation by terminating the contract. If so, follow that clause to the letter to terminate the contract.

Has The Other Party Breached The Contract?

If the other party is in breach of their obligations, you can terminate. For example, you don’t have to pay if the party did not provide the agreed services. Or sometimes, contractual obligations have conditions. In other words, you don’t have to perform unless the other party has fulfilled the condition.

Considerations and Enforceability

Next, lawyers would check if the contract you signed or the particular provision you don’t like is enforceable. In other words, if the other party takes you to court for breach of contract, would you have a viable defense? Would the court take that contract and enforce it against you?

To be enforceable, a contract must be an agreement between at least two people exchanging something of value (consideration). No consideration, no contract.

Also, if the language is so ambiguous that nobody can tell what it means and there is no indication outside of the written contract for the parties’ intention, there is no agreement to enforce.

How Fraud May Effect Contracts

If you have been defrauded in the context of the contract, you may be able to avoid being obligated to perform. The obvious example is when someone forged your signature on a contract. Or if someone makes changes to the contract at the last minute and fails to notify you of such changes so that you literally get tricked into signing a contract that you did not approve.

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