Editing Assignment (law) (section)

===Requirements for an effective assignment===
For assignment to be effective, it must occur in the present: a promise to make a future assignment has no legal effect.<ref>US Legal.com, [https://assignments.uslegal.com/ Assignments], accessed 29 June 2023</ref> No specific language is required to make such an assignment, but the assignor must make some clear statement of intent to assign clearly identified contractual rights to the assignee. A promise to assign in the future has no legal effect. Although this prevents a party from assigning the benefits of a contract that has not yet been made, a [[court of equity]] may enforce such an assignment where an established economic relationship between the assignor and the assignee raised an expectation that the assignee would indeed form the appropriate contract in the future.

A contract may contain a non-assignment clause, which prohibits the assignment of specific rights and some various rights, or of the entire contract, to another. However, such a clause does not necessarily destroy the power of either party to make an assignment. Instead, it merely gives the other party the ability to sue for breach of contract if such an assignment is made. However, an assignment of a contract containing such a clause will be ineffective if the assignee ''knows'' of the non-assignment clause, or if the non-assignment clause specifies that "all assignments are void".

Two other techniques to prevent the assignment of contracts are ''[[Rescission (contract law)|rescission]] clauses'' or clauses creating a ''[[condition subsequent]]''. The former would give the other party to the contract the power to rescind the contract if an assignment is made; the latter would rescind the contract automatically in such circumstances.

====Requirement of a writing====
There are certain situations in which the assignment must be in writing.
#Assignment of [[wages]]; additionally, statutes may prohibit this assignment<ref name=Stark2003/>
#Assignment of any interest in [[real property]]
#Assignment of [[Chose (English law)|choses in action]] worth over $500