What is the difference between a typical contract and an atypical one?

Actualizado22 de August de 2023

To know the main difference between a typical contract and an atypical one, it is necessary to know whether or not they are regulated by law.

A typical contract is based on the law established by the government. For example, a sales contract is regulated by the Civil Code or the Commercial Code. On the other hand, what is different from an atypical contract is that it arises to satisfy the particular needs of the parties in a situation. For example, the franchise contract, the leasing contract or the factoring contract are atypical contracts that have arisen due to the need to adapt to the new economic and social realities.
A typical contract also has a supplementary regulation, which is applied when the parties have not agreed to something specific on a specific aspect. An atypical contract lacks it and therefore in this case it is resolved by analogy, that is, observing other similar contracts or by the general principles of law. Thus, atypical contracts are based on the autonomy of the will of the parties, who can freely create the clauses they deem appropriate as long as they respect the essential elements of any contract, such as capacity, consent, object and cause.

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