Simple contract

In contract law, a simple contract, also known as an informal contract, is a contract made orally, in writing, or both, rather than a contract made under seal. Simple contracts require consideration to be valid, but they may be implied from the conduct of the parties bound by them. William Blackstone observed in his Commentaries on the Laws of England that in the seventeenth century debtors used simple contracts as one of three accepted forms of unsecured debt instrument. In 1828 the Parliament of the United Kingdom amended the statute of frauds so that oral acknowledgments or promises could not be used as evidence to prove the existence of a simple contract.