Civil Model Jury Charge4.10 B. THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARY BILATERAL
CONTRACTS model jury charge
(Approved 5/98)
Ordinarily a person may
not sue for breach of a contract unless the person is a party to the
contract. However, persons may enter
into a contract for the benefit of others.
But, a person not a party to a contract may not sue to enforce it merely
because he/she happens to be incidentally benefited by it. Rather, it must appear that the contract was
made by the parties with the intention to benefit the plaintiff and provide
him/her with enforceable rights. Thus,
to establish that plaintiff is entitled to enforce this contract, the plaintiff
must prove that the original parties to the contract intended the plaintiff to
receive a direct benefit from the contract.
If that intent did not exist, then the
plaintiff cannot sue the defendant. It
is not necessary that an intended beneficiary be specifically identified in the
contact. But if the contract does not
specifically identify the plaintiff, it is necessary to examine the pertinent
provisions of the contract and the surrounding circumstances to find whether
the parties intended the plaintiff to receive a direct benefit from the
contract.
Cases:
Brooklawn v. Brooklawn
Housing Corp.,
124 N.J.L. 73 (E. & A. 1940); Broadway Maintenance Corp. v. Rutgers,
90 N.J. 253 (1982); Worrmann v. Aratusa Ltd., 266 N.J. Super 471 (App. Div. 1993).
