Chan promised to pay his nephew $5,000 if his nephew would refrain from drinking liquor and using tobacco until the nephew shoul

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问题 Chan promised to pay his nephew $5,000 if his nephew would refrain from drinking liquor and using tobacco until the nephew should be 21 years of age. The nephew took Chan’s words seriously, and abandoned drinking and smoking. After the nephew celebrated his 21st birthday, he asked Chan to pay the amount promised, Chan refused.
Could the nephew sue Chan for breach of the contract?

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答案An agreement will become a contract only if the parties have an expressed intention to form a legally binding relationship. The general role is that for an agreement of a domestic nature there is a strong presumption that the parties do not intend to create a legal relationship. In Balfour v. Balfour, 1919, where the defendant, who was about to go abroad, promised to pay his wife $30 per month in consideration of her agreeing to support herself without calling on him for any further maintenance. The wife contended that the defendant was bound by this promise. It was held that there was no legally binding contract between the parties as it was an ordinary domestic arrangement which was not intended to create legal relations. Chan promised to pay his nephew $5,000 if the nephew would refrain from drinking alcohol and using tobacco. Such promise, following the legal principles of above-mentioned cases, does not have an intention to create legal relations and is not binding. However, the nephew could argue that the $5,000 was a consideration for him to abandon drinking and smoking. It is a general rule that it is no consideration if the promise was given from a feeling of moral duty or from "natural love and affection". It is clear that such motives, however worthy they may be, are not the price for the promise. Unless the nephew could prove that his abandoning drinking and smoking would benefit Chan and the argument of consideration is established, otherwise, he could not sue Chan for breach of the contract.

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