Also known as: acts of the law · act of law · operation of law · by operation of law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal occurrence that creates, extinguishes, or transfers a right without any consent by the affected parties.
Adrian Aguilar owned land in State X but lived in State Y. After his death the courts of State X applied their own rules to decide whether title passed automatically to his heirs. The determination turned on the law of the situs rather than the law of Aguilar's domicile.
Austin Abbott and his spouse held their home as tenants by the entirety. Abbott died while divorce proceedings were pending and left a will attempting to devise the home to a third party. Title vested immediately in the surviving spouse by operation of law.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ava Adebayo inherited a membership interest in an LLC from her deceased parent who had been a member at the time of the challenged conduct. The inheritance satisfied the contemporaneous-ownership requirement for a derivative action even though Adebayo herself had not been a member when the conduct occurred.
Anchor Bank foreclosed on a mortgage that had been recorded before the borrower's death. The purchaser at the foreclosure sale received a trustee's deed and recorded it. Title passed to the purchaser even though no deed had been executed by the borrower's personal representative.
Atlas Ventures paid off a mortgage on property owned by another party to prevent foreclosure. The payment assigned the mortgage and the underlying obligation to Atlas Ventures by operation of law, allowing it to enforce the lien against junior interests.
Alfred Ashford received a limited-partnership interest from his deceased parent who had been a partner when the alleged misconduct occurred. The automatic devolution of the interest satisfied the standing requirement for Ashford to bring a derivative action on behalf of the partnership.
No. Transfers by operation of law such as foreclosure, intestate succession, or adverse possession pass title without any deed from the original owner, although a fiduciary may later execute a deed to perfect record title.
A mortgage lien passes by operation of law when a payor fully performs the secured obligation of another. The payor becomes the subrogee entitled to enforce both the mortgage and the obligation to prevent unjust enrichment.
A plaintiff satisfies the contemporaneous-ownership requirement if membership or partnership status devolved on the plaintiff by operation of law from a person who held the interest at the time of the challenged conduct.
The law that would be applied by the courts of the situs determines both whether a transfer of an interest in land occurred by operation of law and the nature of the interest transferred.
…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…