In Tennessee, as in the other states an oral contract (if that is what you mean by 'verbal agreement' ) is as binding as a written one. But remember, "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on." In order to enforce a verbal agreement in a court of law you need to prove it took place, that the conditions of offer and acceptance were met, and what those conditions were. Even if both parties agree there was an agreement, they may not agree on the details, possibly just because of faulty memories. More often one of the parties, for whatever reason, will dispute the conditions or deny that there ever was an agreement. For those purposes you will need proof by means of witnesses, who actually have first hand knowledge of the agreement and the details. The witness did not have to be present at the time of the agreement or when the conditions were met, of course it is better if he was, if at some later date one of the parties, "A" tells the witness, or the witness hears A telling someone else the details or sees A doing something, the witness can testify as to what that A said or did. A witness cannot testify to A's words or actions because B told him what A said or did. That's hearsay. Now if you have all that stuff written down, signed and dated, you don't have to rely on witnesses or memories. A written contract always trumps a verbal one, verbal changes made after a written agreement has been made do not change the original agreement, but a written one made after a verbal one can change or even negate the original verbal agreement. A note scribbled and signed on a napkin is a written contract. Sometimes, SOMETIMES, a court may decide that an agreement has been made based on the actions of one, or both, of the parties. That usually requires some unusual action, but not always. A rents a mansion from B and pays $100 a month, B can't wait a year then suddenly evict A claiming the original rent was $150 a month. Nor can A, after a year, demand the rent back claiming the deal was for a mansion and not the cardboard box it turned out to be. BTW both parties do not necessarily have to sign a written contract or orally agree to a verbal one. An offer to sell, a store ad for 5 cans of beans for a dollar, is a written agreement. If the one kid tells the other kid he'll give him 2 bits to eat a worm, other kid eats a worm but one kid doesn't pony up, other kid should take one kid to small childs court, along with all the grubby witnesses. (Legal scholars may argue that the ingestion of the worm was an "oral" if not "verbal" response to the offer. But legal scholars will argue about anything, such as the placement of a , and use there of.) If your big brother sez he'll eat your sprouts if you give him your cupcake, then scarfs the cake but leaves the sprouts, you should tell your mom. You should eat them sprouts first cause you don't want to prejudice the judge.

Tennesse does have a verbal contract law. it is strictly civil and pertains to civil torts, not criminal. the requirements of the law state that a verbal agreement can be made between two parties for anything. if one of the agreeing parties violates the verbal agreement, the other party can seek relief in civil small claims court. in order to make a verbal agreement case, either party must have an uninterested party, as a witness to the agreement, in the beginning. your case may not qualify for small claims court, depending on the amount of money or property involved. you may have to contact an attorney for further advice.

I made an agreement to be able to cut all I wanted of the tree tops left by woodcutters, witnessed by a recorded telephone conversation. Now, the other party contracted by a paper contract to let another person have the same wood, contracted later than my agreement. Will this stand up in a court of law since there is thousands of dollars involved by my losing the wood? If you can answer this anyone let me know at frogers41@hotmail.com