Star One Smart Blog's

We've all heard this line: "Oh, go ahead, reserve that on your card, I'll pay you when we get there" or "Catch this one, I'll get yours next time" or, if your friends are really suck-ass low downs, "Man, bail me out of jail, and I'll pay you back" or "Dude, the child support is due and if I don't have it they'll put me back in jail...I'll pay you back next week".

Any way you hear it, you've been offered an Oral, or Verbal Contract.

An Oral contract is a contract that terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication, in contrast to a written contract, where the contract is a written document. There may be written, or other physical evidence, of an oral contract -- for example where the parties write down what they have agreed -- but the contract itself is not a written one.

Hmmm...OK so far, but, what's to keep the other party in line?

In general, oral contracts are just as valid as written ones..."An oral contract is just as valid as a written agreement. The main problem with an oral contract is proving its existence or the terms."*

Bingo! There's no real proof, in writing, that your mouthy friend ever agreed to squat.

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Samuel Goldwyn, Goldwyn's Law of Contracts
US (Polish-born) movie producer (1882 - 1974)

So, go for a little comfort...write the thing on paper.