Definition

1. Noun:
   • A contract whose performance depends on a fact or event that affects legal relations: A conditional contract is a legal agreement where the duties or obligations of the parties are not absolute but are triggered or extinguished based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of a specified future event. This event must be uncertain and must affect the legal relationship established by the contract.

Usage

• General Use: Used primarily in legal, business, and formal contexts to describe agreements that are not immediately binding in full.
• Key Concept: The core idea is contingency. The contract's enforceability or the requirement to perform is contingent upon a condition.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The sale of the house was based on a conditional contract that required the buyer to secure financing within 30 days.
  • They signed a conditional contract for the merger, pending regulatory approval from the government.

Advanced Usage

• "Condition precedent": A condition that must be fulfilled before a party's duty to perform arises under the contract.
  • The funding was subject to a condition precedent of the company providing a satisfactory audit report.
• "Condition subsequent": A condition that, if it occurs, terminates an existing duty or obligation under the contract.
  • The license agreement contained a condition subsequent that would terminate the rights if the product failed safety tests.

Variants and Related Words

• Condition (n): A future and uncertain event on which the existence or performance of an obligation depends.
• Contingent contract (n): A term often used synonymously with conditional contract, emphasizing the contingent nature of the obligations.
• Executory contract (n): A contract in which one or more parties have not yet fulfilled their obligations.

Synonyms

• Contingent agreement
• Provisional contract

Related Phrases

• Subject to [condition]: A phrase used in contract language to introduce a condition.
  • The offer is subject to a satisfactory home inspection.
• Dependent upon: Relying on something else for its existence or occurrence.
  • The entire deal is dependent upon shareholder approval.

Noun

1. a contract whose performance depends on a fact or event that affects legal relations