Determining the legal nature of mutual-aid elderly-care services provided through time banking is a logical prerequisite. It underpins the choice of applicable law and the appropriate dispute resolution path. Three leading theories have been advanced in the current scholarship: labor contract theory, third-party beneficiary mandate contract theory, and long-term voluntary service relationship theory. Each captures certain aspects of time banking operations, but none adequately accounts for the full set of institutional features, such as public-interest orientation, deferred payment, tripartite subject structure, and identity transformation. The institutional structure and operational mechanisms reveal two distinct types of services in time banking, namely voluntary services and mutual-aid services. The service contracts should be constructed as two separate mandate contracts, one between the service provider and the time bank organization, and another between the service recipient and the time bank organization. Whether each contract is compensated or uncompensated depends on the type of service involved. The two contracts are linked through the time credit account system, yet their respective legal relationships remain independent. This framework reconciles the public-interest purpose with the reasonable expectation of consideration. It provides a theoretical foundation for standardizing time-banking service contracts and resolving disputes.
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