What is frustration of purpose?

Frustration of purpose is a legal concept in contract law in Washington. It occurs when an event happens that is so significant that it makes it impossible for a party to perform their obligations under a contract. This event must have been unforeseen or unanticipated by either of the parties. An example of this would be if a party accepts a contract as a result of a false representation made by another party. If the event that was represented to them did not occur, this could be considered a frustration of purpose because it would make it impossible for the party to perform according to their contract. Frustration of purpose can also occur if the circumstances that were anticipated are significantly different from the actual state of events. For instance, if a party was expecting a job to be completed in a certain amount of time, but an unforeseen event caused the job to be delayed for an extended period of time, this could be considered a frustration of purpose because the party would not be able to perform as agreed. In Washington, if a frustration of purpose occurs, the contract is typically considered to be void and unenforceable. The parties may be able to seek legal recourse to recover damages if they can show that they were unable to perform their obligations due to the frustration of purpose.

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