Obviously, an alleged condition of the marriage contract was that the government would not ban public gatherings. When this condition failed, the contract for the place of marriage became impossible to fulfill. The services section must also specify exactly who is providing the services. Do you sign a contract with an individual or do you enter into a contract with a company? This distinction can become important later when a conflict arises. Even if COVID-19 has destroyed the purpose of your contract, you are still not guaranteed to be relieved. It`s difficult, but true. Before applying the doctrine of impossibility, courts usually require proof that the cause of impossibility was not “reasonably foreseeable”. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization called the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. If you follow the 11. The reality is that the doctrine of impossibility is unlikely to be available to them. Some courts may find that a COVID-19 outbreak was reasonably foreseeable in advance. Like so many problems caused by COVID-19, this is an untested question that needs to be found in the justice system before it has clear answers.

This whole framework can be difficult to manage, even if everything goes according to plan – and if things don`t go as planned, such as the advent of a global pandemic and the government ban on mass gatherings, this framework and the contractual obligations associated with it can be thrown into chaos. Here are some considerations if you find yourself in a situation where you need to get your money back from a vendor or make changes to your plans. may not only have become economically unprofitable. Related doctrines are the impracticability and frustration of the objective that the parties may use as a defence against breach of contract if the non-occurrence of a particular event was a basic assumption on which the contract was concluded, and such an event occurs through no fault of one party, thereby rendering the contract unenforceable or frustrating the original objective.3 Although it is likely that it would be more difficult to rely on a clause of force majeure included in the contract, the impossibility of performance remains particularly relevant during the current coronavirus pandemic. The enforcement threshold is usually the most controversial point of contention between the contracting parties when the force majeure clause comes into play. The invocation of the clause requires not only the triggering event, but also the conclusion that it would be impossible or impractical for a party to perform the contract. The contract may have provided for a “booking fee” for the wedding photographer or caterer to plan the services. If the rest of the contract is not performed as planned, whether due to force majeure or impossibility, do these costs have to be reimbursed? And what about the deposit that the customer has already paid? In most cases, the answer is no. The booking fee is a contract to keep the date open and the photographer, caterer or other contractor has already executed that part of the business, so any part of the contract is considered concluded.

In addition, some provisions relating to force majeure exclude payment obligations from non-performance – meaning that while a party may be exempted from providing services on the date initially agreed, a party may still be required to make payments on the dates initially agreed. If either party fails to perform the contract due to its own errors or decisions or due to events under its control, it must take responsibility for its decisions. That is only fair. If our caterer cancels one month in advance to conclude a more lucrative event contract, he must at least refund the deposit. That is only fair. If the couple separates, it may not be entirely their fault or choice of each other, but it`s certainly not the caterer`s fault. The caterer must be able to keep the deposit (at least) and may be entitled to an additional payment. That is only fair. Has the performance of a contract been thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic? Force majeure clauses are effective, but they are also very narrow.

To excuse a breach of contract, the nature of the event must be expressly stated in the clause. Some events generally included in force majeure clauses are force majeure, government measures, embargo, war, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, fires, floods, strikes and, above all, pandemics. Sometimes a force majeure clause is usually written to include any event that is “not reasonably under the control” of a party – in which case, the specific event does not need to be described in the clause.2 Read the clause carefully to see what is covered and what is not. However, if the force majeure clause in your contract® is not general in nature or does not explicitly mention the epidemic or pandemic, you may not be able to use it for the current situation. Your contract cannot contain any provision of force majeure. If this is the case, other principles of contract law with regard to the impossibility and infallibility of the objective may apply. How long the contract is valid and when payment must be made. You should generally plan to pay as soon as the services are provided. In some cases, you may be offered 15- or 30-day terms. This means that a party agrees to bear the losses it has suffered. In most cases, the contract prevents compensation or compensates one or both parties.

What if the place had survived well enough to accommodate the reception, but all roads were blocked? It would still be possible for the caterer to come on site, he would only need a helicopter instead of a van. Or if the place had survived but the caterer`s kitchen had been flooded? You could always find another kitchen to use, right? Couldn`t they find a kitchen outside the typhoon`s destruction zone, for example in Corvallis or Eugene? What happens if it is possible for the caterer to perform the contract, but not practical? If the COVID-19 pandemic or a related event affects the performance of your or the other party, you should take the following steps to assess the impact of the pandemic on your existing contractual relationship: To this end, you should expect a contract from almost all suppliers participating in your big day. One-time purchases – for example, an Etsy cake mattress topper – are the exception, but anything that includes custom work (an escort card wall), payment payments (your dress) or goods used on the wedding day and services provided (furniture rental, photography, etc.) should be accompanied by a formal agreement. .