What is past consideration?

Past consideration refers to an act or performance that has already occurred prior to the making of a promise. This means that the action was completed before the promise is made, and therefore it cannot serve as valid consideration for a contract in most legal contexts. In contract law, consideration is necessary to create a binding agreement, and for consideration to be valid, it must be something that is exchanged as part of the agreement. Since past consideration is not a part of the exchange at the time the promise is made, it does not meet the legal requirement for consideration.

On the other hand, the other options describe different scenarios that do not accurately represent the concept of past consideration. An ongoing act would imply that the act is still in progress at the time of the agreement, which does not fit the definition of past consideration. A promise made before any action describes a situation where the promise is pending future action rather than recognizing something that has already taken place. Lastly, a future act agreed upon involves a commitment to perform an action in the future, which is entirely different from past consideration since it addresses intentions rather than completed acts.