“Courts won't assess adequacy of consideration, only legal sufficiency required”
The consideration was sufficient to support the contract. The court held that consideration need not be adequate in value, only sufficient in law.
After John Thomas died, his executors agreed to let his widow remain in the house for £1 per year and her promise to keep the premises in good repair. The executors later sought to remove her, arguing the consideration was inadequate.
Whether nominal consideration of £1 per year plus a promise to maintain the property constituted sufficient consideration to support a binding contract.
The court established the fundamental principle that consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate. Provided consideration has some value in the eyes of the law, courts will not inquire into whether it represents fair value. The £1 rent and maintenance obligations constituted legally sufficient consideration.
This case established a fundamental principle of English contract law regarding the sufficiency versus adequacy of consideration that remains good law today. It demonstrates judicial restraint in not interfering with parties' freedom to contract on whatever terms they choose.
The ratio is that consideration must be sufficient (have some legal value) but need not be adequate (equivalent in economic value to what is received in return).
The court decided that £1 annual rent was valid consideration despite being inadequate compared to the house's value, allowing Mrs Thomas to remain.
It established the fundamental principle that courts will not assess whether consideration is adequate, only whether it is sufficient, giving parties freedom to make their own bargains.
The court noted that a moral obligation alone, without legal consideration, cannot support a contract, but distinguished this from situations where nominal but legally recognizable consideration exists.
OSCOLA Citation
Thomas v Thomas (1842) 2 QB 851
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[2026] UKSC 1
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