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When obligations become due

Tie an obligation to a triggering event and you have created a condition precedent: until the event happens, the obligation does not exist. English courts enforce that literally. The Supreme Court has now confirmed that if the trigger never occurs, the obligation never becomes due - even where the party relying on that was the one who prevented it.

Pillar guide

When do contract obligations actually become due?

Tie an obligation to a triggering event and you have created a condition precedent: until the event happens, the obligation does not exist. English courts enforce that literally. The Supreme Court has now confirmed that if the trigger never occurs, the obligation never becomes due - even where the party relying on that was the one who prevented it.

Read the pillar guide
  1. 01Condition precedent to payment
  2. 02Deemed fulfilment and the prevention principle
  3. 03Contractual time bars
  4. 04Waiver and estoppel of conditions precedent
  5. 05Drafting payment triggers that work

Complete topic

All when obligations become due guides.

Start with the main guide or open the specific clause question you need.

Pillar guideWhen contract obligations become due

How conditions precedent decide when an obligation becomes due, why King Crude rejected deemed fulfilment, and how to draft triggers that hold.

4 min readPayment triggersCondition precedent to payment

How to tell a true condition precedent from a procedural step or a sequencing promise, and why it decides whether payment is due.

4 min readThe King Crude principleDeemed fulfilment and the prevention principle

Why English law has no deemed fulfilment doctrine after King Crude, and the express clause you now need to protect against prevention.

4 min readTime barsContractual time bars

Why courts enforce notice deadlines literally, what the Sunday-deadline case shows, and how to build systems that meet them.

4 min readWaiver and estoppelWaiver and estoppel of conditions precedent

When waiver or estoppel can rescue a missed condition precedent, what ISG Retail v FK shows, and why the route is treacherous.

4 min readDraftingDrafting payment triggers that work

Seven elements for drafting conditions precedent and milestones courts enforce, plus a pre-signature checklist.

4 min read

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