abeyance

Found in thesaurus: inactiveness, inactivity, inaction

Babylon EnglishDownload this dictionary
abeyance
n. condition of being temporarily postponed, suspension

English Wikipedia - The Free EncyclopediaDownload this dictionary
Abeyance
Abeyance (from the Old French abeance meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly may not vest. For example, an estate is granted to A for life, with remainder to the heir of B. During B's lifetime, the remainder is in abeyance, for until the death of B it is uncertain who is B's heir. Similarly the freehold of a benefice, on the death of the incumbent, is said to be in abeyance until the next incumbent takes possession.

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WordNet 2.0Download this dictionary
abeyance

Noun
1. temporary cessation or suspension
(synonym) suspension
(hypernym) inaction, inactivity, inactiveness
(hyponym) cold storage


Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)Download this dictionary
Abeyance
(n.)
Suspension; temporary suppression.
  
 
(n.)
Expectancy; condition of being undetermined.
  

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. About
The 'Lectric Law LibraryDownload this dictionary
Abeyance
An incomplete or undetermined state of affairs. From the French aboyer, which in figurative sense means to expect, to look for, to desire. When there is no person in esse in whom the freehold is vested, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation, remembrance and contemplation.

The law requires, however, that the freehold should never, if possible, be in abeyance. Where there is a tenant of the freehold, the remainder or reversion in fee may exist for a time without any particular owner, in which case it is said to be in abeyance.

Thus, if sn estate be limited to A for life, remainder to the right heirs of B, the fee simple is in abeyance during the life of B, because it is a maxim of law, that nemo est hoeres viventis.

Another example may be given in the case of a corporation. When a charter is given, and the charter grants franchises or property to a corporation which is to be brought into existence by some future acts of the corporators, such franchises or property are in abeyance until such acts shall be done, and when the corporation is thereby brought into life, the franchises instantaneously attach.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.

Courtesy of the 'Lectric Law Library.