Legal Definitions - of the essence

OF THE ESSENCE

When a contract has a requirement that is so important that if it is not met, the person who made the promise will be considered to have broken the contract. The other person can then cancel the contract.

For example, if you hire a contractor to build a house and the contract says that the house must be finished by a certain date, that date is "of the essence." If the contractor does not finish the house by that date, you can cancel the contract and hire someone else.

The term "of the essence" means that something is very important and must be done exactly as it was promised. If it is not done, the other person can cancel the contract. The example of hiring a contractor to build a house shows how this works in real life. If the contractor does not finish the house by the promised date, the person who hired them can cancel the contract and find someone else to finish the job.