Legal Definitions - unifactoral obligation

Unifactoral Obligation

A unifactoral obligation describes a legal duty or requirement that is dependent upon the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of a single, specific condition or event. For this type of obligation to become active or enforceable, only one particular factor needs to be present or absent. If that sole condition is met, the party is bound to fulfill their duty; otherwise, the obligation may not arise or may be excused.

Here are some examples:

• Conditional Bonus Payment: A company promises an employee a special bonus payment, but states that the bonus will only be paid if the company achieves a specific profit margin by the end of the fiscal year. The obligation to pay the bonus is entirely dependent on this one financial target being met.

  This illustrates a unifactoral obligation because the company's duty to pay the bonus arises solely from the fulfillment of a single condition: reaching the specified profit margin. If that one factor is not met, the obligation does not exist.

• Real Estate Purchase Agreement: A buyer signs a contract to purchase a house, but includes a clause stating that their obligation to complete the purchase is contingent only upon their ability to secure a mortgage loan at a specific interest rate within 30 days. If they cannot secure that loan, they are not obligated to buy the house.

  Here, the buyer's legal duty to proceed with the home purchase is tied to one specific factor: obtaining a mortgage under certain terms. If this single condition is not satisfied, their obligation to buy the property is nullified.

• Service Contract Activation: A software development firm agrees to begin work on a new project for a client, but specifies that their obligation to start the development process will commence only after the client provides all necessary design specifications and initial content. Until those materials are delivered, the firm is not obligated to begin coding.

  This demonstrates a unifactoral obligation because the software firm's duty to start the project is activated by a single factor: the client's delivery of the required specifications. Without that one condition being met, the firm's obligation to begin work remains dormant.