As 2025 draws to a close, and we prepare to enter 2026, many of us will participate in the yearly ritual of the new year’s resolution. We endeavor to read more books, to join and attend a gym, eat healthier food, etc., and promise to improve our lives in myriad ways.
Are these resolutions legally enforceable in New York?
In sum, and generally, no. Under New York law, a standard personal New Year’s resolution is not a legally enforceable contract.
While the term “resolution” appears in New York law regarding corporate board actions or government mandates, the personal goals we make on or in contemplation of January 1st lack the fundamental pillars required for a contract to be found binding by a New York court.
No Binding Promise or Agreement
1. Lack of “Mutual Assent”
For a contract to exist in New York, there must be a “meeting of the minds” between at least two parties.
The Issue: A New Year’s resolution is typically a promise to yourself (e.g., “I will go to the gym”). You cannot enter into a legal contract with yourself because there is no second party to offer, accept, or enforce the terms.
And, even if you break your promise to yourself, you are the only conceivable defendant. So you will win, and lose, the ensuing lawsuit.
2. Lack of “Consideration”
New York contract law requires consideration, which is a “bargained-for exchange of value.” In sum, each party must give up something or provide a benefit to the other.
The Issue: Even if you “promise” a friend you’ll quit smoking, that friend is usually not giving you anything of legal value in return for that specific promise. Without this “quid pro quo,” the resolution is viewed as a nudum pactum (a naked promise), which is unenforceable.
3. Intent to be Bound
New York courts look for objective manifestations of an intent to be legally bound.
The Issue: Resolutions are socially understood as aspirational personal goals, not legal obligations. A court would likely find that no reasonable person intends to face a lawsuit or pay damages to their spouse or roommate for failing to, for example, “eat more kale.”
4. Written Agreement Lacking
Yet another potential is New York’s Statute of Frauds. Under New York General Obligations Law § 5-701, certain agreements must be in writing to be enforceable. These include a “promise or undertaking” which “[b]y its terms is not to be performed within one year from the making thereof or the performance of which is not to be completed before the end of a lifetime. N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-701(a)(1).
The Issue: Since New Year’s resolutions are by definition intended to be carried out over the course of a year, an oral resolution would often run afoul of this “one-year rule” if it couldn’t theoretically be completed before the next December 31st.
When Could a “Resolution” Be Enforceable?
The only way a “resolution” becomes enforceable in New York is if it stops being a resolution and starts being a formal Contract or Settlement.
For example, if you sign a written agreement with an employer stating, “If I lose 20 lbs by July, you will pay me a $5,000 bonus,” and both parties sign it, you may have moved out of the realm of “resolutions” and into a binding unilateral contract.