operation of law


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operation of law

The application of rights and responsibilities because of a person or property's status, relationships, location, or other such factors independent of one's express agreement to assume responsibilities or another's express agreement to grant rights.Here are some examples of things that happen by operation of law:

• When a premises owner takes possession of mislaid personal property, he or she becomes a gratuitous bailee with a duty to use ordinary care to return the property to the true owner.

• The death of the principal terminates an agency relationship.

• Bankruptcy of the principal terminates an agency relationship.

• Joint tenancies with rights of survivorship are severed when one joint tenant transfers his or her interest or a creditor seizes his or her interest.

• In some states, when property has been dedicated to public usage, such as a park, and that usage is abandoned or relinquished, the property reverts back to the original grantor or his or her heirs.

• Title to real property is said to be acquired by operation of law when it is acquired by adverse possession, by intestate succession (descent), or by virtue of another's will (devise).

• Adomicile by operation of law is an assigned domicile for persons who are incapable of making legal choices, such as minor children and persons declared mentally incompetent.

• Title to condemned property taken under a power of eminent domain passes on the day the condemnation declaration is filed, whether or not the parties have agreed upon a price or the former owner has signed any documents.

• Agift made in contemplation of death is automatically revoked if the donor recovers or if the donee dies before the donor.

• Awill leaving property to one's spouse is considered revoked in some states if the parties obtain a divorce.

The Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia by Denise L. Evans, JD & O. William Evans, JD. Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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