In all but one of the following situations, the contract is frustrated. Identify the exception.
A) Jack contracts with Bill to build a barn on his one-acre lot, but before the permit is obtained, a new law prohibits barns on less than three acres.
B) Rudolph is due to appear in a local variety theatre that has just been destroyed in a fire of unknown origin.
C) Frank has contracted to ride Emperor, a prize horse, in the Canada Day races on July 1, but on June 28 the horse breaks a leg and has to be destroyed.
D) Gregory, a trucker with whom you contracted last month to haul potatoes tomorrow, phones to tell you that his truck has broken down.
E) Jerry, a doctor, is due to perform a heart transplant operation on Mary, and the night before the surgery his arthritis becomes so painful that he cannot hold a scalpel.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In situation D, the contract is not frustrated but rather impossible to perform due to unforeseen circumstances (the truck breaking down). In the other situations, the contracts have become impossible to perform due to external events (new law prohibiting barns, theatre destroyed by fire, horse breaking a leg, doctor's physical limitation).

In All but One of the Following Situations, the Contract