Rowena Williams (as executor of William Batters) v Gregory Jones.
The public would assume when contracts have been negotiated but have not been signed by either party it would mean that neither side are bound by the terms of that draft contract, however in the case of Rowena Williams (as executor of William Batters) v Gregory Jones that was not the case.
The Contract including conditions was agreed in principle with one of the conditions being that an Accountant’s advice should be sought. However before the Contract could be signed, Mr Batters died.
It would be expected that because Mr Batters died before signing the contract that would be the end of the matter but in this case the Court ruled that when Mr Batters died all the terms of the contract had been agreed and decided and nothing was outstanding, therefore, because neither party had stated that the contract was “subject to contract” a signature was not required.
All contract negotiations as to atransaction should beheadedand noted as “subject to contract” until such time as the contract is signed and dated to complete the matter.