Illusory Promise is said to be a statement, a promise, and or an assurance that appears to assure a person or an entity to do or execute an action or activity and form a contract which, when properly scrutinized, leaves to the speaker the choice of performance or nonperformance, meaning that the speaker is not legally bound to act upon his/her statement. It is a situation whereby the provisions of the promise make the performance of the promise optional or completely within the discretion, pleasure, and control, of the person that made the promise. When this happens, it is believed that there has been nothing promised.
Lack of mutuality is a ground for a statement and or promise to be considered illusory promise. If an agreement grants only one party consideration of any kind, the agreement is not considered to be a binding legal contract. For instance, for my colleague to promise to pay my school fees for as long as I want to go to school is not a binding legal agreement; rather it is an illusory promise because, the subject of the promise is not such that asks for anything in return and my colleague does not receive any consideration for the promised payment, and did not form a contract.
The Agreement
Culberton had a real estate to sell and Brodsky was interested in the estate. They both had an option contract and Brodsky later decided to buy the property, but the offer was turned down by Culbertson.
From every indication, it appears that though Culberton and Brodsky did have a written agreement for the sale of land; their agreement contained no consideration. Although they had provision in their forms to write in their independent consideration amount for the buyer’s right to terminate the earnest money contract for whatever reason within the said thirty days, they did not put in any amount but zero
