Arkansas Contracts Legal Questions

You may or you may not, depending on whether the contract is valid, but it has nothing to do with whether the signatures on the contract are notarized or not.  There are many reasons why the contract might not be enforceable, and it may be wise for you to engage a local attorney to actually look at the document, but in general if 2 competent adults who are not under duress reach an unambiguous and unconditional written agreement without either deceiving the other, whch agreement accurately reflects their mutual intent, pursuant to which each provides something to the other in exchange for what he/she receives, the agreement is valid and enforceable.... Read More

I don't know specifically about Arkansas, but in most states a minor can back out of any contract he enters.  I doubt the dealership would be willing to take the chance.  Of course, if you bought the car, you could sell it to your son, as long as you realize that you will still be on the hook for payment.... Read More

I'm very sorry for your situation, but as a general rule contractual performance isn't excused becauew one party to it dies, and certainly not because that party's spouse dies.   Generally, if you enter into a contract and die before you perform it (in this case, pay), your estate is liable on the contract.  Without getting too technical, there are situations where a court could find that complete forfeiture of the deposit is unenforceable, but the purchaser would still be liable for the actual damages the seller sustained by reason of the breach of contract.  In this case, this would likely be the difference between the price you contracted to pay and the price the seller was able to seel the puppy for to someone else.... Read More

Restrictive covenants such as this one are looked at with some suspicion by the Courts and are often not enforced, but they sometimes are.  I see no problem with the 120 day notice requirement.  However, if your agreement really says that you can't work at any job within 30 miles of your current one forever, I would be shocked if it was enforced.  If it actually says something like you can't work for any competitor of your employer for a year after you leave its employ, the clause is more likely to be enforced, but still no certainty.  Whether or not the clause is enforceable depends on a large variety of factors, including the type of industry you work in (i.e. 30 miles when you're talking about an air traffic controller is a lot more reasonable than 30 miles when you're talking about a beautician), whether the employee has specialized skills or training, the geographical scope of the provision, the amount of time the provision restricts competition, whether the employee can work in another industry, whether the employer has invested considerable money and time training the employee, whether the employee's work would involve usng his former employer's confidential information, whether the clause prohibits any competition or is a limited restriction (for example, prohibiting solicitation of customers the employee has serviced in the past 6 months), etc.... Read More