Question

Use any method you choose to locate the important case of Hamer v. Sidway,124 N.Y. 538, 27 N.E. 256 (1891). Read the case and answer the following questions: Who is the offeror? What is the offer? Who is the offeree? How was the offer made? What was the consideration? Given your understanding of law, did the court make the right decision? Why or why not?

Answer 1

The offeror – the offeror in this case is William story.

Offeree – the offeree here is the nephew of William e story.

Offer – the offer made by William story to his nephew William e story ii is that he promised to pay his nephew $5000 if he would abstain from drinking alcohol, using tobacco swearing & playing billiards or cards until he reached the age of 21.

How was the offer made – nothing is mentioned in the case. It generally says William made a promise to his nephew. Looks like the offer is made orally. The letter was written by the nephew only after his birthday.

Consideration - $5000

Regarding the decision – according to my view, the decision of the court is valid because a valuable consideration in the sense of the law may consist either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered or undertaken by the other." The executor of Story I's estate, Sidway, was therefore legally bound to deliver the promised $5,000 to whoever currently held the interest in the sum, which by the time of the trial was Hamer. The forbearance was valid consideration given by a party (Story II) in exchange for a promise to perform by another party (Story I), the promisee was contractually obligated to fulfill the promise.