{"id":363029,"date":"2013-01-28T16:34:14","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T21:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/dictionary\/definition\/mistake.html"},"modified":"2013-01-28T16:34:14","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T21:34:14","slug":"mistake","status":"publish","type":"dictionary","link":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/definition\/mistake.html","title":{"rendered":"Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

term:<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n\n
\n

n<\/p><\/dt>\n

1<\/b> :<\/b> an unintentional error esp. in legal procedure or form that does not indicate bad faith and that commonly warrants excuse or relief by the court [the court’s power to revise a judgment because of fraud, , or irregularity] [a clerical ]
2<\/b> :<\/b> an erroneous belief: as
a<\/b> :<\/b> a state of mind that is not in accordance with the facts existing at the time a contract is made and that may be a ground for the rescission or reformation of the contract
b<\/b> :<\/b> a misconception at the time of an offense alleged by a defendant <\/p>\n

mistake of fact<\/b>
1<\/b> :<\/b> a mistake regarding a fact or facts esp. that significantly affects the performance of a contract
2<\/b> :<\/b> a criminal defense that attempts to eliminate culpability on the ground that the defendant operated from an unintentional misunderstanding of fact rather than from a criminal purpose <\/p>\n

mistake of law<\/b>
:<\/b> a mistake involving the misunderstanding or incorrect application of law in regard to an act, contract, transaction, determination, or state of affairs
;also<\/i>
:<\/b> a criminal defense alleging such a mistake NOTE: In both contract and criminal law a mistake of law is a weaker ground for relief or acquittal than a mistake of fact. <\/i> <\/p>\n

mutual mistake<\/b>
:<\/b> a mistake common to both parties to a contract who were in agreement about the purpose or terms of the contract [reformed the contract because of a mutual mistake<\/i>] <\/p>\n

unilateral mistake<\/b>
:<\/b> a mistake on the part of one party to a contract that is usually not a ground for rescission or reformation unless one party stands to profit or benefit improperly from the mistake <\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Source: Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law \u00a91996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is ‘Mistake’? Learn more about legal terms and the law at FindLaw.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":358119,"menu_order":0,"template":"app\/Http\/Controllers\/Templates\/DictionaryArticleController.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","_autodraft_ids":[],"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","_is_real_time_mode":false,"_realtime_collaborators":"","cf_checklist_status":[]},"dictionary_tags":[],"class_list":["post-363029","dictionary","type-dictionary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dictionary\/363029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dictionary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/dictionary"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dictionary\/358119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"dictionary_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/law-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dictionary_tags?post=363029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}