When may hardship be invoked in contract law?
Hardship arises when an unforeseen extraordinary change after contracting makes performance excessively burdensome contrary to good faith.
Formation, validity and legal effects
The change may need to be beyond the debtor's control, fundamentally alter the balance and arise before performance or after performance with rights reserved. Not every cost or currency increase justifies adaptation; allocation of risk and foreseeability are examined. Party autonomy is important in private law, but mandatory rules, public policy, personality rights and good faith impose limits. Parties, subject matter, form, authority to represent, conditions and time terms are examined separately. A document's heading does not alone determine its legal character; common intention, negotiations and actual performance may also matter. Failure to follow a required form may affect validity in some transactions and proof in others.
Proof, disputes and protective remedies
Adaptation is considered first, followed where impossible by withdrawal or termination for continuing obligations. Unilaterally stopping payment may create default risk, so court relief and interim measures require careful planning. Economic data and contract calculations should be concrete. Contracts, correspondence, payment records, delivery documents and the timeline are assessed together in a dispute. Notice, withdrawal, termination, adaptation, damages and specific performance have different conditions and effects. Limitation periods should not be confused with forfeiture periods, and family or personal-status law may involve special public-policy procedures. Where a transaction has serious financial or personal effects, case-specific review is preferable to a generic template.