IL
Contracts
Case Briefs
Webb v. McGowan
Court of Appeals of Alabama, 1936
TOPIC: Moral obligation
CASE: Webb v. McGowin, 27 Ala App. 82, 168 So. 196, 232 Ala. 374 (1936).
FACTS: the plaintiff, Webb, filed a suit against the defendants who were the of the McGowin estate’s executors for failure to continue the payments that the deceased was paying him. The plaintiff had sustained permanent and severe injuries while saving the deceased’s life, who had afterward promised to pay the plaintiff money for as long as he lives as gratitude. However, the executors of the estate had stopped the payments when McGowin died.
HISTORY: the court ruled the matter in favor of the defendants causing the plaintiff to appeal.
ISSUE: the issue was whether McGowin was under an obligation to pay Webb for the rest of his life for injury sustained while saving him. The court was to determine whether the actions by Webb, saving McGowin’s life, amounted to adequate consideration for the promise he made to Webb.
RULING: Yes. Alabama’s Court of Appeals established that there was sufficient consideration and ruled in favor of the plaintiff, with the defendants instructed to pay the missed payments.
RATIONALE: The court found evidence that the plaintiff had indeed saved McGowin from grievous bodily harm or death, causing himself to get severe injuries. There was evidence that for eight years until his death, McGowin had paid the plaintiff for materially benefiting him by saving his life. The fact that he had agreed to pay Webb makes it an agreement that is valid.
RULE: Where the promisor has benefited materially, a moral obligation amounts to sufficient consideration in support of the subsequent promise to pay.