Also known as: acts of law · operation of law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal event by which a right is created, transferred, or extinguished solely by the force of law without any voluntary act or consent by the affected parties. The event occurs automatically upon satisfaction of statutory or common-law conditions such as death, foreclosure, or subrogation.
Arthur Abrams owned land in State X that passed to his heir by intestate succession under State X probate rules. When a dispute arose over whether the heir received full title, the court applied the law of State X as the situs to determine that the transfer occurred by operation of law.
Alfred Ashford and his spouse held their home as tenants by the entirety. After Alfred died while still married, title vested immediately in the surviving spouse even though Alfred's will attempted to devise the property to a third party.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Angela Acosta inherited a membership interest in an LLC when her father, a member, died. The operating agreement contained no contrary provision, so Angela's status as member arose automatically by operation of law for purposes of bringing a derivative action.
Alice Atkins's mortgaged parcel was sold at a power-of-sale foreclosure after she defaulted. The purchaser received clear title directly from the foreclosure sale even though no deed from Atkins or her estate was executed.
Adam Anderson paid off a mortgage on property owned by another party to prevent foreclosure. Equity assigned the mortgage to Anderson by operation of law, allowing him to enforce the lien against junior interests.
Aisha Ahmed became a limited partner when her predecessor partner died and the partnership agreement provided no contrary rule. Her status devolved on her by operation of law, giving her standing to maintain a derivative action.
An act of law occurs automatically when statutory or doctrinal conditions are met. An act of the party requires a voluntary exercise of legal power such as signing a deed or contract.
Supporting sources
Yes. Foreclosure is listed among recognized mechanisms that pass title without a deed from the transferor or estate representative.
Status devolves automatically upon death or other triggering event when the governing agreement contains no contrary provision and the successor satisfies statutory standing requirements.
No. Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship or tenancy by the entirety passes directly to the survivor regardless of contrary testamentary language.
Subrogation assigns the mortgage to the payor by operation of law to prevent unjust enrichment, preserving the lien's priority against junior interests.
…was owned not by petitioner but by the corporation of which he was sole shareholder. When title was transferred to petitioner by operation of law, the wetlands regulations were in force. The state court held the postregulation acquisition of title was fatal to the claim for deprivation of all economic use, and to the Penn Central…