31y/o makes preg 19y/o sign a contract so he can abuse her some more.

Fantastic. Just fantastic.

Quote :

A Seattle man accused of forcing his pregnant girlfriend to sign an abuse contract is behind bars on domestic violence charges.

I have no idea, can a contract be considered legally binding if it wasn't drawn up by a lawyer, regardless of the terms?

Quote :

Speaking with officers, the teen said Smith had previously assaulted her and that she believed he would carry out the threats, according to charging documents. She was confident the abuse would continue, in part because Smith had asked her to sign a contract allowing him to continue the assaults.

"How sure were you that he'd keep hitting you?" "He asked me to let him hit me everywhere but on my baby belly. It's on paper and everything." "So pretty sure, then?"

Quote :

Contacted by phone, Smith denied making the threats but acknowledged the abuse contract, Ellis continued. He was not arrested at the time.

...Ooooohkay...

Fantastic. I'm not sure what's worse here- the abuse? The age difference (though legal) in this abuse? The "legalness" of the abuse? The fact that this so reminds me of Twilight somehow? Ick.

Jesus. wrote:

Fantastic. Just fantastic.

Quote :

A Seattle man accused of forcing his pregnant girlfriend to sign an abuse contract is behind bars on domestic violence charges.

I have no idea, can a contract be considered legally binding if it wasn't drawn up by a lawyer, regardless of the terms?

Generally speaking, a contract can be as simple as "I agree to pay John Smith $50 per month for the use of his horse." It doesn't have to be drawn up by a lawyer.

However, a contract to commit a crime is automatically void and not binding upon any party.

Spotts, does there have to be a second-party witness to the signing of the contract?

I read the title as "13y/o makes preg 19y/o etc. etc." and felt oddly let down.

Malganis wrote:

Spotts, does there have to be a second-party witness to the signing of the contract?

For most contracts, no witness is required under the law. There are exceptions (wills being the predominant one), and most businesses have their own internal rules about documents being witnessed and/or notarized.

The rule of thumb is to have a witness anyway to strengthen your argument if there is ever an action for breach of contract.

Malganis wrote:

Spotts, does there have to be a second-party witness to the signing of the contract?

In this case all the witnesses in the world wouldn't make it legal.

You have to wonder, though, how that conversation went.

Seule wrote:

I read the title as "13y/o makes preg 19y/o etc. etc." and felt oddly let down.

Hoooray for dyslexia,
Also can't she just say the she was forced to sign it and therefor making it null and void?

Grunge wrote:

Also can't she just say the she was forced to sign it and therefor making it null and void?

Are you paying attention? A contract about committing a crime is null and void by default.