Terms of a contract: Legal analysis of wooing, dating and marriage

Sure you must have heard about this caption a million times, "wife material ". Every man looks forward to having this mystery lady eith nice curves, glittering skin, long hair, a drop dead gorgeous face, independent lady, Godfearing, perfect house wife with all the embodiments that goes with it....all in one lady, yea????

The Concept Of Wife Material

Most men always wish and fantasize of such a lady being theirs.They tend to see other women below their standard as not being " wife material " enough- whatever that means. If in its literal sense, you want a woman 100 percent perfect having that perfect material, have you asked yourself if you are the right tailor, perfect enough to sew the nice material into an exceptionally outstanding outfit?

It is heart wrecking to find men in the midst of their peers, gloat about how they "cannot settle for less" and take pleasure in scrutinizing everything in skirt .They believe that it behoves entirely on them, the right to select who they want to be with and the lady should consider it a privilege to be chosen- imagine that!

Can i burst your bubbles guys? A woman has a choice too! She sizes up a guy as soon as he approaches her. As he takes a step one after the other towards her, the decision whether or not to regard him as a "potential husband material" already plays in her head.

The Man Decides It All Syndrome .
Can we rely on the fallacious assumption that the ball is entirely in the men's court? I reply in the negative, a capital NO. Further note :this is done vehemently...lol
A relationship, better put , marriage can never be one sided. Both parties, erstwhile during courtship, already understand each other to some extent; good enough to wholly accept each other's flaws and glory in each other 's strength.

The Concept Of Terms Of A Contract In A Relationship.

A legal analysis of the metamorphosis of dating can be enunciated thus; When a man sees a woman for the first time and makes a step to approach her, he makes "an invitation to treat" with a view to make an "offer" subsequently. Mind you, an invitation to treat " is a mere declaration of willingness to enter into negotiations; it is not an offer, and cannot be accepted so as to form a binding contract."Here, he owes himself a duty of care not to take a cursory look at her but a deep long dive at her personality to be sure he wants to go over to the next stage. A God fearing man, goes to pray and seeks God's confirmation whether or not to proceed to the next stage. This is termed the "scoping stage".

The next stage, "offer stage" is where the asking out is done by the man.The man has to be explicit and clear on what he wants .

An offer must be a clear, unequivocal and direct approach to another party to contract. For this reason, advertisements, catalogues or store flyers are not offers. Nor is a FOR SALE sign on a used car.These are mere invitations to treat.

According to the locus classicus, Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893], some questions must be asked to attain certainty: Are the terms clear enough to be an offer or are further negotiations necessary? Are the terms a mere ‘puff’.

It is trite that the "offer" must be " accepted " by the party being wooed. This analysis vitiates the opinion of the school of thought holding tenaciously to the fact that the man decides it all. Straying back into time, with particular reference to the days of our fore fathers, i may concur with that School of thought. The men and the women almost did not have any choice as marriages were consecrated on age- long family yies and arrangements.

The modern day approach has drawn our minds to the fact that there must be "acceptance" by the lady being wooed for the first cycle to be completed.The former view initiated by the Olden days have been upturned by the concept of "offer and acceptance ".

In Harvela Investments Ltd v. Royal Trust of Canada (CI) Ltd [1986] - The issue whether the words used indicated a clear intention to be bound was looked at and it was held that clarity of intention is paramount in any proposed contract.

Hmmmm, not exhaustive because the cycle continues. The terms of a contract has four ambits- offer, acceptance, intention to create a legal relationship and of course, consideration. How does these work in a platonic relationship, how can the legal theory be inculcated to fit in? What makes such contract binding ? What are the subsequent effects?
Part two unleashes another twist and turn....stay tuned to my blog

Written thoughts.....#legallyblonde