Southern Wine and Spirits of Illinois v. Steiner

Defendants executed personal guaranty to protect a wholesale wine distributor, guaranteeing they would pay distributor for any indebtedness incurred by wine merchant that Defendants owned and operated.Plaintiff the purchased distributor and its assets, and later became a supplier to wine merchant. Court properly found that personal guaranty was not assignable and thus not enforceable. Defendants were not aware that guaranty had purportedly been assigned, and thus were not aware they were incurring any risk when purported assignee purchased goods from them. This was material change in terms of agreement, as Defendants' risk went from a known to unknown risk. (NEVILLE and MASON, concurring.)