Breach of Contract Definition: A failure of a party to a contract to perform his or her obligations as agreed to within the contract. Related Terms: Damages, Anticipatory Breach, Assumpsit, Contract, Specific Performance Contract law allows for judicial intervention in the event of a breach that is substantial, that goes to the root of the contract, also stated to be fundamental, by relieving the non-breaching party of his or her obligations and exposing the breaching party to damages or, if appropriate, an order for performance of the breached contractual obligation. The older version (now extinct) of breach of contract was known as assumpsit. REFERENCES: Duhaime, Lloyd, Contract Law Duhaime, Lloyd, Legal Definition of Anticipatory Breach Categories & Topics: Contract Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!