What is an implied-in-fact contract?

• A. An implied-in-fact contract results when a person's assent to an offer is inferred solely from that person's conduct; to be bound, the person must intend the conduct and know or have reason to know that the conduct may cause the offeror to believe the offer was accepted.
• B. It arises only from a written agreement.
• C. It requires explicit oral assent.
• D. It is always enforceable regardless of intent.

Answer: (A)

An implied-in-fact contract is formed from the parties’ actions rather than spoken or written words. If one party provides goods or services and the other party acts in a way that a reasonable person would understand as accepting that offer—while knowingly causing the offeror to believe acceptance has occurred—then a contract is created based on that conduct. The binding effect comes from objective intent shown by behavior, not from an explicit agreement.

This is why the correct idea is that assent is inferred from conduct and the person must intend that conduct as acceptance, with knowledge or reason to know it would be understood as such. It does not require a written agreement or explicit oral assent, and it isn’t enforceable if there’s no genuine intent to be bound.