A valid contract has to have the following essential characteristics: * Proper offer and acceptance An offer to be valid must contain certain conditions such as it must intend to create legal relationship, its terms must be certain and unambiguous, it must be communicated to the person to whom it is being made. An acceptance to be valid must fulfill certain conditions such as it must be communicated by an authorized person before the offer lapses. * Intention to create legal relationship
The intention of both the parties involved must be t create a legal relationship. * Free consent Free consent of both the parties must be there provided that the free consent is not a cause of coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake. * Capacity of parties The parties to an agreement must be capable of entering9competent) into contract. What is meant by this is that the individuals entering into contract must be the age of majority according to the law to which they are subject, and are of sound mind and not disqualified from contracting by any law to which they are subject.
Lawful consideration An agreement must be supported by lawful consideration. * Lawful object The object of an agreement must be lawful. * Certainty of meaning The terms of an agreement must be certain and unambiguous. * Possibility of performance The terms of the agreement must be such which are capable of being performed. * Legal formalities The agreement must comply with the necessary formalities which include writing, registration, stamping etc hat are required to make it enforceable in law.
