§ 1577
74 words·~1 min read·
/ca/civil-code/1577A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Mistake of fact is a mistake, not caused by the neglect of a legal duty on the part of the person making the mistake, and consisting in:
1. An unconscious ignorance or forgetfulness of a fact past or present, material to the contract; or,
2. Belief in the present existence of a thing material to the contract, which does not exist, or in the past existence of such a thing, which has not existed.