Contracts

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An Indiana Court of Appeals recently ruled upon a dispute between a mother and her daughter and son-in-law (and their business) concerning the lease of commercial property and the repayment of loans the mother made on the business’ behalf.  The Court began its decision in Wayt v. Maschino (December 29, 2017), by noting: “This case can be added to an unfortunately long list of cautionary tales concerning the perils of going into business with family members.”
Continue Reading Court Ruling Highlights The “Perils Of Going Into Business With Family Members”

Family members often transfer family-business ownership interests or other assets between each other. Their discussions sometimes progress from informal negotiations to a written term sheet to a final written agreement.  However, a term sheet itself can be found to be a binding agreement if the terms are sufficiently definite for a court to determine each party’s obligations and if the parties’ conduct evidences their agreement to perform according to those terms.

In Kunz v. Kunz, a Court of Appeals in Iowa recently ruled upon a claim by one family member against another to enforce a “Settlement Memorandum” which provided for the purchase and sale of stock in the family business, even though the Memorandum contemplated the drafting of later documents to finalize the transaction.  In 1973, brothers Richard and Robert Kunz formed Happy Homes, Inc., a company that sold factory-built homes.  Richard died in 2007 and his 50% interest in the company was transferred to his wife, Connie.  Connie and Robert then began discussing the sale of Richard’s interests and later participated in mediation to aid in these discussions.Continue Reading Do You Have an Enforceable Contract for the Sale of Family-Owned Business Interests or Just an Agreement to Agree?

A family business’ significant commercial relationships are usually reflected in written agreements.  But who is authorized to sign those agreements and to bind the company to the terms?  Typically, a company’s management will have actual authority to sign agreements.  However, the company may give the impression to third parties that other employees (for example, purchasing agents, account managers and IT personnel) that those employees have “apparent” authority to sign contracts relating to their areas of responsibility and thus bind the company to agreements.  It is therefore important for family business owners and management to clearly instruct their employees and agents – and to communicate to third parties – as to whether those employees or agents are authorized to sign contracts and other important documents on the company’s behalf.
Continue Reading Who is Authorized to Bind Your Family Business to Contracts?