MARIA SMITH v. CHRISTOPHER JONES

Maria's father died when she was a junior in high school. A year has passed and she and her mother have been grief stricken and financially in trouble. Her mother's brother, Uncle Chris, has been more present in their lives and tries to cheer them up. On a recent visit, Maria told her Uncle that she was interested in going to Sherman University and was accepted but she and her mother just did not have the financial resources to pull it off. A student loan would be quite a burden for her afterwards. Uncle Chris told her that she should go and if she did and graduated, he had substantial savings in the bank and he would give her $40,000 as a gift on graduation. Afterwards, she spoke to her mother about this and her mom told her that Uncle Chris had a successful business and he could do what he said. Maria left for school and because it was so far away, she didn't see her Uncle as frequently as when she was in high school after her father's death.

Well, the years passed and Maria was to graduate from Sherman and she and her mother had him over and invited him to attend the ceremony. Chris mentioned nothing about the money so Maria brought it up when her mom went into the kitchen. She told him that she really appreciated his help and his promise was the reason that she went to college. Uncle Chris looked baffled and said what help and she told him about his promise of a $40,000 gift to help along on graduation. He shook his head and said that gift was not possible. Maria started to cry and ran upstairs to her room. She had over $60,000 in debt from this and she just didn't know what to do. She decided to go and talk to a lawyer about this matter with her Uncle Chris and his promise that she counted on.

A. As to contract law, what arguments and concepts might be used to argue on behalf of Maria and what arguments and concepts might be used by Chris?

B. If this went to court and you were the judge, how would you rule and state legal reasons behind your opinion?