contracts. An equivalent for a thing purchased. A necessary requirement for the making of a valid and binding contract, in addition to an offer and an acceptance.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
The distinction between a good and a valuable consideration is that the former consists of blood, or of natural love and affection; as when a man grants an estate to a near rela-tion from motives of generosity, prudence, and natural duty; and the latter consists of such a consideration as money, marriage which is to follow, or the like, which the law esteems an equivalent given for the grant 2 Bl. Comm. 297. A valuable consideration is a thing of value parted with, or a new obligation assumed, at the time of obtaining a thing, which is a sub-stantial compensation for that which is ob-tained thereby. It is also called simply “value.”