•  
  •  

Home > Journals > Michigan Law Review > MLR > Volume 24 > Issue 8 (1926)

 

Abstract

There are in the reports a surprising number of cases in which it is alleged that the owner of property has bound himself by contract to devise or bequeath that property to another. These promises have been made upon almost every imaginable consideration, but in the typical case the consideration is personal services rendered to the promiser during his declining years. Since these promises are so common, one concludes that this kind of contract must appeal to many persons as advantageous. There is little doubt that it of ten does enable one to secure attention of a sort he could not otherwise obtain. He may have a small home to which he is attached, and where he would like to spend his remaining days, but insufficient money with which to buy food and clothing and pay a servant's wages. A friend or relative who is kindly disposed may be willing to live with him and to furnish necessaries and personal attention if assured of reimbursement to the extent of the property which the person benefited may leave at his death, although he would not feel able to provide the same gratuitously. The owner of the property preserves his home and is relieved of worry about the future; he is not exposed to the risk of his funds being exhausted before his death. Such an undertaking may or may not be a profitable one for the person performing the services, for here is no certainty how long he must work, or how much expense he must bear, to become entitled to the property.

Download

Share

COinS