Question

When a contract is broken for a one-of-a-kind item, and money can&#x27;t truly fix the harm, what special court order makes the breaker do what they promised?

Accepted Answer

The special court order is called specific performance. Specific performance is an order from a court that forces a party who has broken a contract to actually carry out the specific actions they promised to do under that contract, instead of just paying money for the breach. This legal remedy is applied when the subject matter of the contract is unique, meaning it is one-of-a-kind or has no readily available substitute. In such cases, money, known as monetary damages, is considered an inadequate way to compensate the non-breaching party because it cannot truly replace the unique item or fully fix the harm caused by not receiving it. Therefore, the court compels the breaching party to fulfill their original promise, ensuring the non-breaching party receives the exact item they bargained for. For example, specific performance is often ordered for contracts involving real estate, rare art, or custom-manufactured goods because these items are inherently unique and monetary compensation would not make the wronged party whole.

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When a contract is broken for a one-of-a-kind item, and money can't truly fix the harm, what special court order makes the breaker do what they promised?