¶ 28 A settlement agreement is governed by the principles of contract law. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1090 (2003). An oral agreement is binding if there is an offer, an acceptance and a meeting of the minds as to the terms of the agreement.
However, the case before this court can be distinguished from Quinlan in one key respect: Judge Taylor was present during the settlement negotiations and found that the parties had reached a settlement agreement at that time. As a result, the instant case is more analogous to our holding in Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086 (2003). In Rose, the trial court entered an order scheduling a settlement conference for related cases.
750 ILCS 5/502(a) (West 2012). ¶ 37 A settlement agreement is governed by the principles of contract law. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1090 (2003). A marital settlement agreement is a contract.
See Academy Chi. Pubs. v. Cheever, 144 Ill.2d 24, 29-30 (1991) ("Offer must be definite as to its material terms." "The pertinent language of this agreement lacks the definite and certain essential terms required for the formation of an enforceable contract."); Rose v.Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App.3d 1086,1090-91 (1st Dist. 2003); Pritchett, 332 Ill. App.3d at 896. There will be a meeting of the minds "where there has been assent to the same things in the same sense on all essential terms and conditions."
There was a meeting of the minds on the material terms of the parties' agreement-to settle the reserved issues in exchange for the payment of $750,000 to Cole-and the undetermined payment dates for the total settlement amount was an ancillary issue. See Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1093 (2003) (parties' failure to specify the time of performance does not bar enforcement of a settlement agreement). In other words, although the timing of McElwain's payment of the $750,000 had not been set (primarily in an effort to accommodate his financial needs), his obligation to make the payment in two installments had. Importantly, there was nothing left to determine regarding the ownership and disposition of the Schaumburg property or the other reserved matters.
In order for a valid contract to be formed, its material terms and provisions must enable the court to determine what the parties agreed to do. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill.App.3d 1086, 1091 (2003). "Although some terms of a contract may be missing or left to be agreed upon, the parties' failure to agree upon an essential term of a contract indicates that the mutual assent required to make a contract is lacking and, thus, there is no enforceable contract."
¶ 46 Settlement agreements are governed by principles of contract law. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1090 (2003). A valid and enforceable contract requires an offer, acceptance, and consideration. Sheth v. SAB Tool Supply Co., 2013 IL App (1st) 110156, ¶ 68 (citing CNA International, Inc. v. Baer, 2012 IL App (1st) 112174, ¶ 45).
To this end, for an enforceable contract to exist, the parties must mutually assent to, or in other words, have a meeting of the minds on, the essential terms of the contract. Id. at 30; Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1091 (2003). "[T]he parties' failure to agree upon an essential term of a contract indicates that the mutual assent required to make a contract is lacking and, thus, there is no enforceable contract."
A settlement agreement is governed by the principles of contract law. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1090. A marital settlement agreement is a contract. In re Marriage of Haller, 2012 IL App (5th) 110478, ¶ 26. An oral agreement is binding if there
Settlement agreements are governed by the principles of contract law. Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1090 (2003). A marital settlement agreement is a contract.