Stoner v. Zucker, 148 Cal. 516, 83 P. 808 (Cal. 1906)
Stoner v. Zucker is a leading California Supreme Court decision on the suretyship provision of the Statute of Frauds and the distinction between an original undertaking and a collateral promise.
Whether Zucker's oral promise to pay for supplies furnished to a third party was an original undertaking enforceable without a writing, or a collateral promise to answer for the debt of another within the Statute of Frauds and thus unenforceable absent a writing.
An oral promise to pay for goods or services delivered to a third person is not within the suretyship clause of the Statute of Frauds if, in substance, it is an original undertaking by which the promisor becomes primarily liable. This occurs where (1) the creditor extends credit exclusively to the promisor (e.g., keeps the account in the promisor's name and looks solely to the promisor for payment), or (2) the promisor's leading object or main purpose is to serve his own pecuniary or business interest, making the promise effectively his own obligation. Conversely, a promise is a collateral suretyship within the Statute where the third person remains primarily liable and the promisor undertakes only to pay if the third person defaults, in which case a writing is required.
The court held that the promise was an original undertaking by Zucker and therefore enforceable notwithstanding the absence of a writing; the Statute of Frauds did not bar Stoner's claim.
Stoner v. Zucker is central to understanding the Statute of Frauds' suretyship provision. It teaches students to (1) separate form from substance, (2) pinpoint the party to whom credit was extended, and (3) analyze the promisor's economic motive under the leading object doctrine. The case also shows how courts treat the original/collateral determination as a fact-intensive question guided by objective evidence like account books, invoices, and billing practices. For exam purposes, Stoner provides a structured approach to resolving disputes where an oral promise involves a third-party recipient of goods or services.