The Statute of Frauds requires some societally-significant contracts to be in writing, and makes oral contracts in those categories unenforceable. The law-stude

The Statute of Frauds requires some societally-significant contracts to be in writing, and makes oral contracts in those categories unenforceable. The law-student mnemonic is MY LEGS — a written contract is required for agreements concerning: Marriage (e.g., prenups); Year (contracts that cannot be performed within one year); Land; Executor (when the executor of a dead person's estate agrees to pay the decedent's debts out of the executor's own pocket); Guarantor (of another's debt); Sales (of goods for $500 or more). [0] Nit: Strictly speaking a written contract is a "verbal" contract, because in this context, verbal means, in essence, using words, as opposed to, say, gestures or drawings. ("Verbal" derives from the Latin verbum. [1]) [0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/statute-of-frauds.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/statute-of-frauds.asp [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verbum#Latin https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verbum#Latin