The statute of frauds refers to the requirement that certain kinds of contracts be

memorialized in a signed writing with sufficient content to evidence the contract.

Traditionally, the statute of frauds requires a signed writing in the following

circumstances:

 Contracts in consideration of marriage. This provision covers prenuptial

agreements.
 Contracts which cannot be performed within one year. However, contracts of
indefinite duration do not fall under the statute of frauds regardless of how long
the performance actually takes.
 Contracts for the transfer of an interest in land. This applies not only to a
contract to sell land but also to any other contract in which land or an interest in it
is disposed, such as the grant of a mortgage or an easement.
 Contracts by the executor of a will to pay a debt of the estate with his own
money.
 Contracts for the sale of goods involving a purchase price of $500 or more.
 Contracts in which one party becomes a surety (acts as guarantor) for another
party's debt or other obligation.

This can be remembered by the mnemonic "MY LEGS": Marriage, contracts for more
than one year, land, executor (or estate), goods (over $500), surety; or Marriage, one
year, land, executor (or estate), guarantor, sale.