My law assignment?? I dont understand

I)John owes Merry $5000. John supposed to pay Merry in full in 1 june 2006 but on

1 may 2006, John tell Merry to accept a lesser sum of $4000 from John as full and

final settlement of the sum of $5000 owed, tell Merry that is all he has. Merry

feel that she has no alternative but accept the money($4000) and makes a note for

John that he already pay his debt of $5000. But one month later Merry changes her

mind and demand the remaining sum of $1000 that from John.

1)Can Merry got her right to get $1000 ?
2)What if Merry is the one who ask John to pay his debt one month early and John

only pay her $4000. Can Merry ask for another $1000?

I think that for first question Merry can ask the money because she has no choice

to accept but i doubt with my own answer. And for the second I dont think merry

can ask for $1000. Am i right????

II) on 1 april Carla offer to sell jewellery for $10000 to Tom. On 2 april TOm

accepted the offer and send a postal mail to Carla. But because a delay of post

office the mail reach Carla on 12 april. Meanwhile Carla need money already sell

the jewellry on 8 april to Sam.

Can Tom sue Carla ? I have no idea with this case!!!!

Can I find the any principle law in for my question ? ANy info ??

Greetings!

I'll give you my analysis based on what I know of general principles of law, but I do suggest you try to confirm my results by referencing your textbook, or other sources you use in class.

1) John and Merry had a contract. John proposed a renegotiation of the contract to Merry, and she accepted. By writing the note saying John had paid in full, Merry discharged John's debt and he was not obligated to pay the additional $1,000.

2) Merry has no right to demand payment from John one month earlier than the contract calls for; if John wants to pay her $4,000 earlier than agreed, he can, but that does not necessarily mean he is not obligated to pay the other $1,000. It depends upon what his agreement with Merry was at the time he paid the $4,000. If they did not agree that John no longer had to pay the other $1,000 if he paid early, then he is still obligated for that amount.

For the second fact situation, the principle you are looking for is called the "mail-box rule" in the U.S. I see that you are not in the U.S., so the name may be different for you; look for "post-box rule" or "effective upon posting" or something to that effect. The rule is that Tom's acceptance of the offer is effective as soon as he mails it, unless Carla's offer specified that his acceptance must come in some other form (email, fax, etc.) So, it looks like Tom has a cause of action against Carla for breach of contract.

Remember when answering these types of questions that the most important thing is usually your analysis (the law says this... therefore, because such and such happened, the result should be...). Even if you arrive at the wrong answer, you may be able to get extra points if your analysis (the reason why you arrived at your answer) is good. This depends on your instructor, of course, but it is often true.

Good luck!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com