Not every signed contract reflects a genuinely free choice. Sometimes a party agrees because of threats, pressure, or the improper influence of someone they trust. The law calls these vitiating factors: even where a contract is properly formed, it can be set aside where consent was not truly voluntary. As a solicitor you will meet this on both sides — advising a client who feels trapped into a bargain, and protecting a lender whose security depends on getting the paperwork right when a spouse or relative stands surety.
This lesson builds the topic up step by step:
- Overview and Categories of Duress — what duress and undue influence are, why contracts are voidable, and the three types of duress.
- Establishing Economic Duress — the three elements, and where commercial pressure crosses the line into illegitimacy.
- Bars to Rescission — the four equitable bars that can stop a contract being unwound.
- Actual and Presumed Undue Influence — the two forms, and how a presumption is raised.
- Rebutting the Presumption — how the burden shifts, and the role of independent legal advice.
- Three-Party Undue Influence and Lending — when a lender is put on inquiry and the steps it must take to keep its security.