| Court: | Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 4th District |
| Facts: | Claudia Schwartz wrote a document saying that her nephew Clayton Ganser had the option to purchase some land for $60,000 either prior to July 1997 or within 90 days of her death, whichever came first. The "option" stated that a consideration of $10 was payed by Ganser to Schwartz, although this was not true because Ganser wasn't even aware of the thing until later. Two weeks after he found out about it, he gave her $10, though. Shortly later (in January 1995), she was found to be incompetent. Her son Harold (who got a $150,000 offer on the same land) informed Ganser that he would not be honoring the option. |
| Posture: | Plaintiff appeals from judgment saying he has no interest in the land. |
| Issue: | Did the document by Schwartz actually confer any rights on Ganser? |
| Holding: | No. Affirmed. |
| Rule: | There was no legal consideration here-- it was a gratuitous offer to sell, and could be revoked at any time. |
| Reasoning: | Consideration is a performance or a return promise bargained for. This wasn't that, so it can't be a binding contract. |
| Dicta: | |