A farmer offers his brother an option to purchase a tractor for six months and the brother pays $200 to keep the option open. The farmer dies; on August 15 the brother notifies the executor that he wants to exercise the option. The executor refuses. Is the brother likely to prevail?

• A. Yes, because the brother paid $200 to keep the option open.
• B. No, because the option contract cannot be enforced after the farmer's death.
• C. Yes, because the contract was in writing.
• D. No, because options cannot be exercised after death.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that an option contract, once supported by consideration, is irrevocable for the time stated, even if the offeror dies. Here, paying $200 to keep the farmer’s offer open for six months created a separate option contract. That contract binds the farmer’s estate as the owner of the option during the six‑month window. When the brother notified the executor to exercise on August 15, within that period, the executor’s refusal breaches the option contract. Death does not automatically terminate an option that has valid consideration, nor does it depend on a written form or on the other party’s survival.

So the brother is likely to prevail because the paid consideration made the option irrevocable for its term, and exercising within that term is enforceable against the farmer’s estate.