Benton v. Schulte

This was an action to compel specific performance ■of a contract for the assignment of. a. lease of real estate for a term of years. Such a contract is clearly within the statute of frauds. Gen. St. 1878, c. 41, tit. 2, § 12. Briles v. Pace, 13 Ired. Law, 279. But it was not necessary to allege that it was in writing. The statute of frauds has not changed the rules of pleading. The writing is a matter of proof and not of allegation. In declaring on a contract which, though oral only, would have been valid at common law, it is sufficient to allege a contract generally, without stating whether…