what is the statute of frauds 
the statute of frauds is a legal doctrine requiring that certain types of contracts be in written form the most common contracts covered by the statute of frauds include the sale of land agreements involving goods worth 500 or more and contracts lasting one year or more 12the purpose of the statute of frauds is to prevent fraud or other injury these purposes are often described as being evidentiary and cautionary the evidentiary function of the statute of frauds is to provide documentation that a legal binding agreement exists the cautionary function of the statute of frauds is meant to make each party more intent serious and deliberate in their transacting statutes of fraud were adopted in the u s primarily as a common law concept that is as unwritten law however many states have formalized the concept by creating statutes in a breach of contract case where the statute of frauds applies the defendant may raise it as a defense where the burden of proof is on the plaintiff the plaintiff must establish that a valid contract was indeed in existence history of the statute of fraudsthe statute of frauds has its roots in the act for prevention of frauds and perjuryes which was passed by the english parliament in 1677 the legislation which stipulated that a written contract be used for transactions where a large amount of money was at stake aimed to prevent some of the misunderstandings and fraudulent activity that can occur when relying on oral contracts 3indeed the english legal system of the time suffered from a lack of written evidence the courts were clogged with lawsuits and cases were often settled by using professional witnesses who were paid for their testimony perjury and corruption became the norm as the founders shaped the u s government they drew on the 1677 act to help shape how business transactions and disputes over them should be handled in the new world like their 17th century british forebears the founders decided that written and signed contracts minimized ambiguity by providing a clear record of the agreement that reduced the opportunity for later litigation and simplified the settlement of such suits when they occurred contracts covered by the statute of fraudsas applied in the united states the statute of frauds generally requires the following types of contracts to be written to be legally binding various legislative bodies outline statute of frauds requirements for example the restatement second of the law of contracts is a legal treatise that oversees general principles of contract common law in addition uniform commercial code ucc article 2 outlines rules over the sale of goods 56requirements of the statute of fraudsnot every written document is necessarily protected under a statute of frauds examples of some requirements the statute of frauds includes are emails and invoices can sometimes satisfy statute of fraud requirements for an enforceable contract exceptions to the statute of fraudsin some situations agreements that would ordinarily require a written contract under the statute of frauds may be enforceable without them several exceptions relate to situations in which oral agreements result in work beginning or financial outlays take a case in which steps are taken to create a series of specially manufactured items such as monogrammed shirts if the customer who commissioned them over the phone subsequently decides to cancel the order they will likely still be responsible for at least partial payment the same will usually apply if improvements or modifications to a customer s possessions based on oral agreements are begun and then canceled for example take a situation in which a house painter purchases materials based on a homeowner s request and begins to redecorate a house if the homeowner reverses course and claims no firm painting agreement was in place the contractor would likely prevail that s because of what s known as promissory estoppel promissory estoppel is defined as a principle of fundamental fairness intended to remedy a substantial injustice there are also cases of partial performance the fact that one party has already performed its responsibilities under the agreement may serve to confirm that a contract existed 8examples of the statute of fraudsprovisions for the statute of frauds are enforced by states the universal commercial code ucc in the u s provides a good example it is the standardized set of business laws that regulate financial contracts every state has adopted the ucc 9 although louisiana only has adopted part of it in cases where articles of the ucc that affect the statute of frauds change it may take time for those alterations to be reflected in every state s laws some states like louisiana also have some long standing variations from the norm in their statute of frauds and related regulations 10before relying on the statute of frauds in any given situation it is wise to research the statute of frauds provisions in your state or territory and seek legal advice as needed 