ContractMay 14th, 2022
FiledMay 14th, 2022JANUARY 14, 2013 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1 UNSIGNED OPTION AGREEMENT ENFORCED “A California appeals By John L. Utz court recently Utz & Lattan, LLCjutz@utzlattan.com enforced the terms of an unsigned stock option agreement.” A California appeals court recently enforced the terms of an unsigned stock option agreement. It did so even though the parties disputed whether they had in fact reached agreement. Although the existence of a writing may well have helped the court conclude that there was an enforceable agreement between the parties, it does not seem to have been critical to the court’s analysis. For that reason, one might characterize the case as enforcing the terms of an oral option agreement, though one memorialized by an unsigned writing. The case is Maughan v. Correia, 210 Cal. App. 4th 507 (Cal. App. 2012). Maughan involved a dispute between siblings as to ownership of a family- owned business. The plaintiff, Maureen, together with her former husband and her parents owned and