Hi there. A contract is an agreement usually between two parties that is based on certain promises, such as the promise to provide a service or deliver a product. Contracts can be in writing or made orally. A contract can be made by anyone; you do not have to be a lawyer to create a contract. Whether the contract is valid in the eyes of the law will depend on many things, including the following:

(a) The contract must involve one party offering to do something (e.g. provide a service, lend money, sell property), and the other party must accept this offer. The party accepting the offer usually has to pay the other party money or give them something else of value.

(b) The parties must intend the contract to be legally binding. This means that the parties must want the option to sue the other party if they do not hold up their side of the bargain. Agreements between family members, for example, may not be recognised by the law if the parties are not serious about making a legal contract.

(c) The terms of the contract must be complete and certain. If the parties have not finalised their agreement or part of the contract is unclear, then the contract (or part of it) may not be legally enforceable.

You said that the document you are asking about is called a ‘conditional contract’. Just because a document is labelled a ‘contract’ does not necessarily mean it is a legally binding contract. The substance of the arrangement between the parties and what they actually intended to do is more important in the eyes of the law.

When a contract is ‘conditional’, this usually means that one or both parties do not have to perform their side of the bargain until something else has occurred. In other words, the contract is conditional upon something else happening. For example, a contract may be ‘subject to finance’, which usually means the parties do not have to perform their obligations under the contract in the event that finance cannot be obtained.