Dougherty v. Salt

Dougherty (plaintiff), an eight-year-old boy, received a note from his aunt promising to pay him $3,000 at her death or before. The aunt had her attorney (Dougherty's guardian) draft the note after telling him she wanted to take care of the boy; the guardian added the phrase "value received" to the note. The aunt handed it to the boy and told him to keep it safe. After the aunt died, Dougherty sought to enforce the note against her estate representative, Salt (defendant). A jury found consideration existed and ruled for Dougherty, but the trial judge set aside the verdict and dismissed the case. The appellate court reversed and reinstated the verdict, and Salt appealed further.