Which of the following is NOT an element necessary to establish fraud?

To establish fraud, several elements must be present, including the intent to deceive, injury resulting from reliance on a false statement, and justified reliance on that misstatement. The inclusion of these elements reflects the legal understanding that fraud requires a deceitful act that misleads another party, leading to some form of harm or loss as a consequence of believing the misrepresentation.

The acceptance of the contract terms by both parties is not a necessary element for establishing fraud. While mutual agreement is essential for contract formation, fraud specifically focuses on the deceitful practices involved in persuading someone to enter into that agreement. Thus, a contract could be fraudulent even if only one party accepted the terms based on misleading information, highlighting that the actual acceptance is not integral to proving the fraudulent nature of the transaction. In this context, knowing what elements are critical to fraud versus those that are essential for contract validity helps differentiate between the two legal concepts.