Where a contract has but a single object, and such object is unlawful, whether in whole or in part, or wholly impossible of performance, or so vaguely expressed as to be wholly unascertainable, the entire contract is void.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1598
Object of a Contract
Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case 45 Cal. 2d 474 - California Lettuce Growers, Inc. v. Union Sugar Co. (1955)
Most recently applied in Hiq Labs, Inc. v. Linkedin Corporation (April 2022)
Enacted 1872.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.