Consideration is no Longer About Benefit and Detriment Anymore

Consideration is no longer about benefit and detriment anymore
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In deliberations concerning law, there have been myriads of changes that emanate from different perspectives in a bid to accommodate changing times. In order for one to be line with changing times, it would be crucial to acknowledge such constant changes and to appreciate the different courses that law take. Such changes have occurred in different fields that touch on law. In contract law, there have been changes concerning the aspects that are considered. As it is understood, for a long time, there has been traditional consideration of benefits and detriment.However, with changing times; there have been changes that must be appreciated, in the sense that, the consideration is no longer concerned only with benefit and detriment.[Benson, P. (2011). THE IDEA OF CONSIDERATION. University Of Toronto Law Journal, 61(2),: 248]
Consideration
Consideration plays a crucial role in contract; in as far as law is concerned. This view emanates from the realization that; without such consideration, a contract would no longer be enforceable. It therefore becomes inevitable to deliberate on considerations in any given contract as per law. It is crucial to appreciate that; there have been different views concerning upholding of consideration of benefit and detriment. Some scholars are for upholding such tradition while the progressive types are of the opinion that; such should not be the only aspects of consideration. Both sides have valid reasons for their side of view. However, with consideration of changing times, it would not hold much water to stick to old traditional methods of contract consideration. But still, such change of perception should also be accompanied by valid reasons for the same. It would not be logical to just embrace change just for the sake of doing so.[Benson, P. (2011). THE IDEA OF CONSIDERATION. 61(2): 2464] [DURRANT, C. (2013). TO BENEFIT OR NOT TO BENEFIT: MUTUALLY INDUCED CONSIDERATION AS A TEST FOR THE LEGALITY OF UNPAID INTERNSHIPS. :178.]
Before deliberating on the adopted changes that; benefit and detriment should not be the only, it would be crucial to first discuss the essence of consideration. As earlier said, consideration gives contract the ability to be easily enforceable in as far as law is concerned. Consideration can be sad to be price paid for another promise. As such, consideration may take different forms mainly depending with the contract and the parties involved. Consideration could be in form of money, property or a promise. It could also entail engaging in an act or failure to engage in a certain act. All these must be in line with requirement or the nature of contract.[Kovač, M., & Vandenberghe, A. (2015). Regulation of Automatic Renewal Clauses: 293. doi:10.1007/s10603-015-9286-4]
For instance, if someone agrees to sell an item to another for a given amount of money, giving of the amount or promising to give such an amount by the intended buyer can be said to be the consideration. Giving of the specified amount or promising to do is said to be consideration because; under usual circumstances, such a person (intended buyer) is not legally obliged to give such amount or promise to do so.
Premises of consideration
In law, consideration is based on three pillars. These are the premises on which consideration is built or the conditions that a contract must first fulfill before attaining consideration. The first premise is bargain. Before attaining the given value of exchange, both parties must have their say. It is only after agreeing on the value of exchange that a contract can proceed on other stages. If there is no agreement upon bargaining, there is no option but termination of the contract. As such, there will be no room for elevation of consideration.[FEUER, A. (2015). Which State-Law, Record-Keeping, and Disclosure Mandates Does ERISA Permit that Relate to State Criminal Laws, Insurance Laws, Health Care Laws, Tax Laws, Domestic Relations Laws, Labor Laws, or Other State Laws?. 20(3),59.]
Mutual exchange is another premise of contract on which consideration is built. In order to validate a contract and therefore be able to deliberate on consideration, there must be a benefit that is perceived to be received on both sides. Each side must feel comfortable concerning the benefit to be reaped. When parties are in such terms, a contract has good grounds to hold consideration. For instance, in contract involving renting of a house, the tenant must be comfortable with provision of house while the landlord or land lady is comfortable with the amount to be received. Realization of value is the third premise of contract on which consideration is grounded. For instance, in contract of buying a car, the amount to be paid must be of the same value as the car to be exchanged.[Howard Jenkins, S. (2015). Contract Resurrected! Contract Formation: 252.] [ZOLDAN, E. C. (2014). REVIVING LEGISLATIVE GENERALITY.: 626.]
Every party must feel that what they are getting in exchange is of equal value. When the three premises have been met in a contract, it cultivates viable grounds for consideration. It is at this point that what needs to be considered comes into question. Then the divergent views on whether to keep the traditional view of considering only benefit and detriment comes in. As earlier argued out, these are viable aspects to deliberate on in consideration when it comes to legal matters of contact. However, in consideration of changing times and perspectives, it would not be viable to consider only those two aspects.
It is clear that; the traditional focus of consideration is based on benefit and detriment. Such perspective is directed on the two parties such that each party may feel reaping the highest benefit while getting rid of any possible detriment. Such perspective on its own is not harmful, but there is need to widen the perspective. It is on basis of a wider perspective that there have been intrigues that exchanges on contract bases do not have to exactly match the value as is usually regarded in consideration where the focus is on benefit and detriment.[Korobkin, R. (2013). The Borat Problem in Negotiation: Fraud, Assent,: 69.]
Value of exchange
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