Discharge of a Contract Law and Legal Definition
Discharge of a contract means termination of a contract. It is the act of making a contract or agreement null. A discharged contract refers to contract that is fully performed.
Discharge may take place by:
1. Performance of the contract.
2. Accord and satisfaction.
3. Release.
4. Set off.
5. Rescission of the contract.
6. Extinguishment.
7. Confusion, where the duty to pay and the right to receive unite in the same person.
8. Extinction, or the loss of the subject matter of the contract.
9. Defeasance.
10. The inability of one of the parties to fulfill his/her part.
11. The death of the contractor, as where s/he undertook to teach an apprentice.
12. Bankruptcy.
13. By lapse of time.
14. By neglecting to give notice to the, person charged.
15. By releasing one of two partners.
16. By neglecting to sue the principal at the request of the surety, the latter is discharged.
17. By the discharge of a defendant, who has been arrested under a capias ad satisfaciendum.
18. By a certificate and discharge under the bankruptcy laws.
