Randal embezzled $6000 of his employer's money and then disappeared.The employer's accountant called at Randal's residence and discovered that his wife had a $3500 term deposit.When the accountant threatened to have her husband arrested and imprisoned if she did not agree to sign over the deposit, she assigned the term deposit to the employer to help to defray the loss from the embezzlement.If the wife were later to sue for return of the term deposit, what would be her grounds for avoiding the assignment?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The wife can claim duress as a ground for avoiding the assignment because she was coerced by the threat of her husband's arrest and imprisonment. Duress occurs when a person is forced to enter into a contract or make a transfer of property under threat of harm or violence. In this case, the accountant's threat could be seen as a form of duress that invalidated the wife's consent to the assignment.

Randal Embezzled $6000 of His Employer's Money and Then Disappeared