Cal. Codes » Civil Code / DIVISION 3. OBLIGATIONS / PART 2. CONTRACTS / TITLE 1. NATURE OF A CONTRACT / CHAPTER 2. Parties
California Codes

Cal. Civil Code § 1558 (2026)

Parties

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CA-LEGleginfo.legislature.ca.gov JustiaCode on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

It is essential to the validity of a contract, not only that the parties should exist, but that it should be possible to identify them.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1989–2026 · leading case: Mitch Oberstein v. Live Nation Ent'm't, Inc., 60 F.4th 505 (9th Cir. 2023).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Mitch Oberstein v. Live Nation Ent'm't, Inc., 60 F.4th 505 (9th Cir. 2023). · cites it 3× “LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC. govern your use of Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s sites and mobile applications .”
Westlye v. Look Sports, Inc., 17 Cal. App. 4th 1715 (Cal. Ct. App. 1993). “” (Civ. Code, § 1558.) Here, the agreement specifies only Klein’s and its employees (and non-party Sugar Bowl) as parties to be protected from liability.”
Edna Jackson v. Syd Grant, Belle G. Grant, 876 F.2d 764 (9th Cir. 1989). “Cal.Civ.Code § 1558. See San Francisco Hotel Co.”
Robert Jacobsen v. Aurora Loan Servs., 661 F. App'x 474 (9th Cir. 2016). “We affirm the district court’s ruling that the note and deed of trust were not void ab initio. In California, “[i]t is essential to the validity of a contract, not only that the parties should exist, but that it should be possible to identify them.”
Padilla v. Partners Pers. Mgmt. Servs. CA2/4 (Cal. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “Although defining the terms would have undoubtedly made the agreement clearer, failing to do so does not render the agreement unenforceable in every instance based on the standard set forth in Civil Code section 1558. The sole case relied on by both Padilla and the trial court,…”
Tibrio LLC v. SBG Media, Inc.; Andrew \Andy\" Gold; SBG Media Enter. (S.D. Cal. 2025). · cites it 2× “” Cal. Civ. Code § 1558 . The complaint must allege 7 facts that establish the elements of contract formation.”
Torres v. U.S. Bank Nat. Assn. CA4/3 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016). “” (Civ. Code, § 1558.) In applying that section, however, “[t]here is an important distinction .”
H.T.L. Props. v. Speck CA2/2 (Cal. Ct. App. 2021). “All Nissani asserted in his declaration in opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment was that “[f]rom 2012 to 2016, [HTL Automotive] and/or [HTL Properties], on the one hand, and Speck and/or Circle [Auto], on the other, entered into multiple agreements regarding the…”
White v. Overland Terrace Healthcare Centre CA2/1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2021). “(Civ. Code, § 1558.) This is precisely why, as a general rule, only signatories to an arbitration agreement may invoke or be bound by that agreement.”
Faibvre (S.D. Cal. 2026). “See Cal Civ. Code § 1558 (“It is essential to the validity of a 23 contract, not only that the parties should exist, but that it should be possible to identify 24 them.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.