Contracts Keyed to Farnsworth
Lucy v. Zehmer
ProfessorMelissa A. Hale
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Plaintiff W.O. Lucy offered to purchase Defendants’ farm for $50,000 cash. Defendant A.H. Zehmer, believing Plaintiff’s offer to be a joke, executed a memorandum for his and his wife’s signature to sell their farm to Plaintiff W.O. Lucy for $50,000. The Defendant had had several drinks when he executed the memorandum. Plaintiff picked up the memorandum and offered Defendant $5 as a deposit. Defendant refused the money and explained that his offer was not serious, but he did not ask Plaintiff to return the writing. Plaintiff insisted that he had purchased the land. The next day Plaintiff transferred a one-half interest in the farm to his brother, W.O. Lucy, and arranged to have the title examined. Defendants refused to deliver title to the farm, and Plaintiffs sued for specific performance. The trial court held that Plaintiffs had not established a right to specific performance of the memorandum. The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed and ordered specific performance.
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