N.C.P.I.—Civil 501.25

The (state number) issue reads:

"Did [an] [a] [agent] [personal representative] [heir] [name other

successor]1 of the defendant ratify the contract entered into between the

plaintiff and the defendant?"

(You will answer this issue only if you have answered the (state

number)2 issue "Yes" in favor of the defendant.)

On this issue the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. This means

that the plaintiff must prove, by the greater weight of the evidence, three

things:

First, that (name agent, etc.) was an [agent] [personal

representative] [heir] [successor] of the defendant with authority to act

on the defendant's behalf.

Second, that (name agent, etc.) knew or, under the circumstances,

had reason to know all the material facts and circumstances involved with

the contract.3 A person knows something when he has actual knowledge

of it. A person has reason to know something when, under the same or

similar circumstances, a reasonable person would have known it or would

have been put on notice of its existence.

And Third, that [the defendant] [(name agent, etc.) on behalf of

the defendant] retained the benefit of the contract with the plaintiff.4

Finally, as to the (state number) issue on which the plaintiff has

the burden of proof, if you find by the greater weight of the evidence that

[an] [a] [agent] [personal representative] [heir] [name other successor]

of the defendant ratified the contract entered into with the plaintiff, then

it would be your duty to answer this issue "Yes" in favor of the plaintiff.

If, on the other hand, you fail to so find, then it would be your duty

to answer this issue "No" in favor of the defendant.