I have a contract with an old friend and he still owes $500 but he stopped paying. He said that the contract we have is void because I had m...

Question

I have a contract with an old friend and he still owes $500 but he stopped paying. He said that the contract we have is void because I had my cousin sign it as the "witness". But I have text messages of all of our transactions. What are my options?

Answer

This is a totally bogus reason to declare a contract void. In the first place, witnesses are not required for ordinary business contracts. Wills maybe, but not contracts. Further, even if a witness were required, being your cousin would not be disqualifying ....... the witness would have to have a personal "interest" in the subject matter of the contract in order to be disqualified as a witness, such as being a supplier of the products you were selling under the contract.