Full question:
How can I get the court to set aside a document my previous atty had me sign? It was signed under duress and he did not state my interest in the marital home that my soon to be ex put in his father's name and then had his father put it in Trust so I couldn't get it? Divorce is not final and the court has a hearing scheduled for Mar 22nd to discharge the atty. I am in the process of a nasty divorce. My son is disabled and my father-in-law is evicting us on Mar 31st. I have been unable to find a place to move to that is accessible. How can I stay in our home? My father-in-law purchased the home with his VA Loan. He never lived here which was a requirement to purchase the home with his VA benefits. I made the payments with my income because my husband would not work steadily. My husband told me and my son's nurse that he and his father put the house in trust so that if we ever got a divorce I couldn't get it! What can I do? The attorney who represented me would not state to the court my interest in the house. He had me sign a document saying I would move by Apr 1st. Please help me!
- Category: Contracts
- Subcategory: Recission
- Date:
- State: Ohio
Answer:
A motion may be made to have the court rescind the agreement. Courts have held that a party may rescind a contract for fraud, incapacity, duress, undue influence, material breach in performance of a promise, or mistake, among other grounds. An agreement made under duress may be set aside if the duress took the free will away of the person seeking to avoid the contract. In a duress situation, a party enters a contract to avoid a threatened danger. This threat may be a threat of physical harm to person or to the property of someone (physical duress) or it may be a threat of financial loss (economic duress).
It is possible to rescind a contract based on mistake. Mistake covers a broad set of situations, and courts often distinguish between unilateral mistake and mutual mistake. A unilateral mistake is an incorrect belief of one party that is not shared by the other party. A mutual mistake is an incorrect belief shared by both parties. Courts have traditionally held that mutual mistakes are more likely than unilateral mistakes to make a contract voidable.
Where only one of the parties is mistaken about facts relating to the contract, the mistake will not prevent formation of a contract unless the nonmistaken party is or should have been aware of the mistake made by the other party.
A person makes a contract under duress when there is violence or the threat of violence to the extent that the person is deprived of his free will and makes the contract to avoid harm. The threatened harm may be directed at a relative of the contracting party as well as against the contracting party. If a contract is made under duress, the agreement may be rescinded or declared null and void.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
