What type of contract binds only one party to the contractual obligations?

A unilateral contract is one in which only one party is legally bound to fulfill their obligations. In this type of agreement, one party makes a promise or offers something, and the second party is not obligated to act or perform in return unless they decide to accept the offer, usually by completing an action specified in the contract. A common example of a unilateral contract is a reward for finding a lost pet: the person offering the reward is obligated to pay once someone returns the pet, but the individual returning the pet is not obligated to do so.

In contrast, other types of contracts involve mutual obligations. A conditional contract involves obligations that depend on a certain condition being met. An aleatory contract is based on uncertain events, where the exchange between parties can be unequal and dependent on a specific triggering event. A contract of adhesion, while typically favoring one party over another due to imbalanced bargaining power, still involves obligations for both parties. Thus, unilateral contracts stand out because they create an obligation for only one party, making the nature of commitment fundamentally different from the other types of contracts mentioned.