Oral Contract

An agreement between parties that is either partly in writing and partly dependent on spoken words or that is entirely dependent on spoken words.

An oral contract is enforceable unless its subject matter comes within the statute of frauds, an ENGLISH LAW adopted in the United States, that requires certain contracts to be in writing. For example, a contract to sell real property, to be enforceable, must be in writing to comply with the statute. An oral contract to sell PERSONAL PROPERTY for an amount less than that set in the statute does not fall within its limits and, therefore, is enforceable without being reduced to a writing. The UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE governs the enforceability of oral contracts in sales transactions involving merchants.