CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL

CONTRACTS - PROF. JEFF FERRIELL

FALL 1999 FINAL EXAM

QUESTION III – 33 1/3 % - LIMIT YOUR ANSWER TO 5 PAGES IN A BLUEBOOK

When Kim was young, she always took good care of her grandmother, who lived nearby. She volunteered to help with her grandmother’s laundry, house cleaning, cooking and other chores that her grandmother needed help with. When Kim was in high school, she assumed more responsibility, taking care of the lawn and garden, shoveling snow, and, when her grandmother could no longer drive, taking her to the grocery store, doctor’s office, and other places.

During college, Kim found it difficult to do all the things she had done before, but still helped out when she could. At graduation, when Kim announced she would be attending medical school in the fall, her grandmother was elated. She exclaimed: "Kim, you’ll be a wonderful doctor; and I’ll bet I know what kind of doctor you’ll want to be, you’ll want to take care of old people, like me. I want to reward you for everything you’ve done for me since you were a little girl and for everything I know you’ll do for others in the future. If you become a Gerontologist [a doctor specializing in the care of the elderly], I’ll pay all your college and medical school loans."

Kim could hardly believe her ears. She knew she would be facing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt from both college and medical school and was worried that she would spend half of her career doing work she didn’t enjoy, just to be able to pay back her loans. She immediately told her grandmother that she had been right, and that she hoped to specialize in caring for older patients.

When Kim finished her basic medical school program, and became a doctor, she was offered a position in a prestigious residency program in pediatric medicine, (caring for children) which carried with it a 50% loan forgiveness award for those who, upon completion of an internship and residency, spent 5 years in a rural area with few pediatricians.

Kim knew, however, that this was not the kind doctor her grandmother wanted her to become. More importantly, she knew that her grandmother had promised to pay 100% of her loans if she specialized in Gerontology. Accordingly, Kim turned down the residency in pediatrics, and took a position first as an intern and then as a resident in a Gerontology program.

At the conclusion of her residency Kim passed the Board Certification Exams in Gerontology and became a full-fledged, Board Certified Gerontologist. Unfortunately, her grandmother died, a week after Kim learned of her results on the exam.

Kim has filed a claim in the probate court administering her Grandmother’s estate to obtain the $200,000 necessary to pay the remaining balance on Kim’s student loans.

ASSUME YOU REPRESENT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE GRANDMOTHER’S ESTATE. DRAFT A MEMO ANALZING THE VALIDITY OF KIM’S CLAIM TO THE $200,000.