AGREEMENT

agreement.  1.  A  mutual  understanding  between  two  or  more  persons  about  their  relative

rights and duties re-garding past or future performances; a manifestation of mutual assent by two

or  more  persons.  [Cases:  Contracts    1.  C.J.S.  Contracts  §§  2–3,  9,  12.]  2.  The  parties’  actual

bargain as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances, including course of

dealing, usage of trade, and course of performance. UCC § 1-201(b)(3). [Cases: Sales    33. C.J.S.

Sales § 43.]

“The term ‘agreement,’ although frequently used as synonymous with the word ‘contract,’ is

really  an  expression  of  greater  breadth  of  meaning  and  less  technicality.  Every  contract  is  an

agreement;  but  not  every  agreement  is  a  contract.  In  its  colloquial  sense,  the  term  ‘agreement’

would  include  any  arrangement  between  two  or  more  per-sons  intended  to  affect  their  relations

(whether legal or otherwise) to each other. An accepted invitation to dinner, for example, would be

an agreement in this sense; but it would not be a contract, because it would neither be intended to

create, nor would it in fact create, any legal obligation between the parties to it. Further, even an

agreement which is intended to affect the legal relations of the parties does not necessarily amount

to a contract in the strict sense of the term. For instance, a conveyance of land or a gift of a chattel,

though involving an agreement, is … not a contract; because its primary legal operation is to effect

a transfer of property, and not to create an obligation.” 2 Stephen’s Commentaries on the Laws of

England 5 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).

“An  agreement,  as  the  courts  have  said,  ‘is  nothing  more  than  a  manifestation  of  mutual

assent’ by two or more legally competent persons to one another. Agreement is in some respects a

broader  term  than  contract, or  even  than  bargain  or  promise.  It covers  executed  sales,  gifts, and

other transfers of property.” Samuel Williston, A Treatise on the Law of Contracts§ 2, at 6 (Walter

H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed. 1957).

agreement incident to divorce.See DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

agreement  of  sale.An  agreement  that  obligates  someone  to  sell  and  that  may  include  a

corresponding obligation for someone else to buy. [Cases: Sales    1. C.J.S. Sales § 2.]

agreement  to  agree.  1.  An  unenforceable  agreement  that  purports  to  bind  two  parties  to

negotiate and enter into a contract; esp., a proposed agreement negotiated with the intent that the

final  agreement  will  be  embodied  in  a  formal  written  document  and  that  neither  party  will  be

bound until the final agreement is executed. 2. A fully enforceable agreement containing terms that

are sufficiently definite as well as adequate consideration, but leaving some details to be worked

out by the parties. [Cases: Contracts    25. C.J.S. Contracts § 60.]

“Although the parties expect that they will reach agreement on the missing terms, what they

expect to happen if they fail to reach agreement is often unclear. They may understand that there

will be no contract at all or they may understand that there will be a contract with the missing term A

supplied  as  a  matter  of  law.  If  the  latter  is  their  understanding,  a  question  arises  whether  the

agreement is one with open terms sufficiently  definite to be enfor-ceable or whether it is a mere

unenforceable ‘agreement to agree.’ ” E. Allan Farnsworth, Contracts § 3.29, at 217 (3d ed. 1999).

agreement to sell.An agreement that obligates someone to sell. [Cases: Sales    1. C.J.S. Sales

§ 2.]

antenuptial agreement.See PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT.

binding  agreement.An  enforceable contract. See  CONTRACT.  [Cases:  Contracts    1.  C.J.S.

Contracts §§ 2–3, 9, 12.]

closing  agreement.Tax.  A  written  contract  between  a  taxpayer  and  the  Internal  Revenue

Service to resolve a tax dispute. [Cases: Internal Revenue    4761. C.J.S. Internal Revenue § 654.]

cohabitation agreement.See COHABITATION AGREEMENT.

divorce agreement.See DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

formal agreement.An agreement for which the law requires not only the consent of the parties

but  also  a  ma-nifestation  of  the  agreement  in  some  particular  form  (e.g.,  a  signed  writing),  in

default of which the agreement is unenforceable. Cf. formal contract under CONTRACT. [Cases:

Contracts    30. C.J.S. Contracts §§ 66–67, 72.]

integrated agreement.See INTEGRATED CONTRACT.

invalid agreement.See invalid contract under CONTRACT.

living-together agreement.See COHABITATION AGREEMENT.

marital agreement.See MARITAL AGREEMENT.

marital settlement agreement.See DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

negotiated agreement.See NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT.

outsourcing agreement.See OUTSOURCING AGREEMENT.

point-and-click agreement.See POINT-AND-CLICK AGREEMENT.

postnuptial agreement.See POSTNUPTIAL AGREEMENT.

prenuptial agreement.See PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT.

property settlement agreement.See PROPERTY SETTLEMENT(2).

reconciliation agreement.See RECONCILIATION AGREEMENT.

separation agreement.See SEPARATION AGREEMENT.

side  agreement.  1.  An  agreement  that  is  ancillary  to  another  agreement.  2.Int’l  law.  An

international  accord  that  is  specifically  negotiated  to  supplement  a  broader  trade  treaty.  •  For

example, NAFTA  contains no  provisions about labor standards or environmental  protection. But

two  side  agreements  about  those  areas  were  negotiated  separately  and  designed  to  supplement

NAFTA,  making the treaty  more attractive  to the ratifying bodies. —  Also termed supplemental

simple agreement.An agreement for which the law requires nothing for its effective operation

beyond some manifestation that the parties have consented.

subordination agreement.An agreement by which one who holds an otherwise senior interest

agrees  to  subor-dinate  that  interest  to  a  normally  lesser  interest,  usu.  when  a  seller  agrees  to

subordinate  a  purchase-money  mortgage  so  that  the  buyer  can  obtain  a  first-mortgage  loan  to

improve the property. [Cases: Secured Transactions    147. C.J.S. Secured Transactions § 108.]

supplemental agreement.See side agreement.

surrogate-parenting agreement.See SURROGATE-PARENTING AGREEMENT.

takeover agreement.An agreement under which a defaulting party’s surety agrees to perform

the original contract in the defaulting party’s stead.

trust agreement.See declaration of trust (2) under DECLARATION(1).

unconscionable   agreement   (<<schwa>>n-kon-sh<<schwa>>-n<<schwa>>-b<<schwa>>l).

An agreement that no promisor with any sense, and not under a delusion, would make, and that no

honest  and  fair  promisee  would  accept.  •  For  commercial  contexts,  see  UCC  §  2-302.  —  Also

termed  unconscionable  contract;  unconscionable bargain.  [Cases:  Contracts    1.  C.J.S. Contracts

§§ 2–3, 9, 12.]

underwriting  agreement.An  agreement  between  a  corporation  and  an  underwriter  covering

the terms and conditions of a new securities issue. [Cases: Corporations    79. C.J.S. Corporations

§ 186.]

valid agreement.See valid contract under CONTRACT.

voidable agreement.See voidable contract under CONTRACT.

void agreement.See void contract under CONTRACT. [Blacks Law 8th]