Issue 1: Is there a contract between Leslie and her aunt and uncle?
To determine whether there is contractual obligation between Leslie and her aunt and uncle, we should go through the four requirements to form a contract: 1. Offer: one party (“offeror”) must offer (verbally, in writing, or by conduct) to make a contract and specify all of the key terms. In the case, Leslie’s aunt and uncle first suggested Leslie buy the business, which is an electronics store. However, there was a “counter offer”, which is that offeree rejects the original offer and accepts a new offer before making final contract. Initially, her aunt and uncle planned to sell the business at $ 300,000. But Leslie did not accept it and insisted on buying at the fair value price $400,000. This means that she rejected the original offer, and made a counter-offer to them. Yet, as her financial ability is not strong enough to buy the business at once, her aunt and uncle suggested that they would like to receive $150,000 for now and collect the rest of money later. Thus, this is another new counter-offer to Leslie. Additionally, all the offers are made verbally without any written agreements, but it is still enforceable if it meets the other three requirements that we will discuss in the following parts. 2. Acceptance: other party (“offeree”) must accept that offer, on those terms, without any changes. At last, Leslie accepted the counter-offer that pay $150,000 for now, and with either half of profits going to them or else “whatever Leslie could afford.” However, it should be noticed here “whatever Leslie could afford” is not very clear, which might cause the future concerns. 3. Consideration: the (accepted) offer must require each party to give something “in return for” what the other party must give. As mentioned in the case, Leslie would pay for total $400,000 in return for her aunt