"A voidable contract is one where one or more parties thereto have the power, by a manifestation of election to do so, to avoid the legal relations created by the contract; or by ratification of the contract to extinguish the power of avoidance. Where a contract is voidable on both sides, as where there has been a violation of the duty of loyalty and improvidence by executors knowingly participated in and induced by the other contracting parties, the transaction is not wholly void, since in order to prevent the contract from having its normal operation the claim or defense must in some manner be asserted and also since the contract is capable of ratification, such a contract affects from the outset the legal relations of the parties. The question of whether there has been an abandonment or abrogation of a contract is usually one of fact . . . ."
Voidable
Valid unless rejected by a party with the legally protected option of doing so. Thus, state law may allow minors to either affirm or reject any promises made in a contract by calling such contracts voidable.
See Void (compare).
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
A contract that can become void, but is not necessarily so; a contract that one party can affirm or rescind at that party's option. An example might be a contract entered into by a minor that is voidable once the minor reaches the age of majority, or alternatively, which the minor may affirm.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:26 pm
