Severable contract

Severable contract

In contract law, a severable contract is a contract that is actually composed of several separate contracts concluded between the same parties, so that failing (breaching) one part of such a 'severable' contract does not breach the whole contract. Therefore, the other party must still honor the other subparts and cannot cancel the whole agreement. A severable contract generally must contain a "severability clause" that allows certain clauses and aspects of the contract to be "severed" without affecting the validity of the rest of the contract.

For example, if Mr. X purchases a computer, a scanner, a printer and a desk from a retailer, and the retailer cannot deliver the printer, the other parts of the contract (the computer, the scanner and the desk) are still valid and must be honored.

The above example, however, is incomplete. If Mr. X purchases a computer, scanner, printer and desk as part of a package, with the explicit agreement that all parts must be delivered together, the failure to deliver the printer may be material breach of the entire contract.

In addition, if a contract is made explicitly for a set - such as a complete set of books, furniture or clothes - the failure to deliver the entire set is almost certainly a breach of the entire contract.


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  • severable contract — n. A contract that contains two or more independent parts, one or more of which can potentially be breached without invalidating the entire contract. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney… …   Law dictionary

  • severable contract — entire and severable contracts An entire contract is one the consideration of which is entire on both sides. The entire fulfillment of the promise by either is a condition precedent to the fulfillment of any part of the promise by the other.… …   Black's law dictionary

  • severable contract — entire and severable contracts An entire contract is one the consideration of which is entire on both sides. The entire fulfillment of the promise by either is a condition precedent to the fulfillment of any part of the promise by the other.… …   Black's law dictionary

  • severable contract — See divisible contract; severability of contract …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • severable contract — noun a contract which, in the event of a breach by one of the parties, can be considered as several independent agreements expressed in a single instrument • Hypernyms: ↑contract …   Useful english dictionary

  • contract — con·tract 1 / kän ˌtrakt/ n [Latin contractus from contrahere to draw together, enter into (a relationship or agreement), from com with, together + trahere to draw] 1: an agreement between two or more parties that creates in each party a duty to… …   Law dictionary

  • severable — sev·er·able / se vrə bəl, se və rə / adj: capable of being severed: divisible a severable contract a severable bequest compare entire sev·er·abil·i·ty /ˌse vrə bi lə tē, ˌse və rə / …   Law dictionary

  • contract — An agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. As defined in Restatement, Second, Contracts No. 3: A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a… …   Black's law dictionary

  • contract — An agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. As defined in Restatement, Second, Contracts No. 3: A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a… …   Black's law dictionary

  • severable — severability, n. /sev euhr euh beuhl, sev reuh /, adj. 1. capable of being severed. 2. Law. separable or capable of being treated as separate from a whole legal right or obligation: a severable contract obligation. [1540 50; SEVER + ABLE] * * * …   Universalium

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