Also known as: aniente · aniens · aniented · anientise · annul · void · make void
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An adjective describing a law, deed, or other legal matter that has no force or effect.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Arthur Abrams signs a mortgage on his warehouse to secure a supposed loan from Alpine Mining. No loan funds are ever advanced and no separate note exists. The mortgage is anient because it secures no valid obligation.
Arcadia Retail leases space to Anita Ali. The lease states that the landlord may change the locks without court process if Ali holds over. The controlling law provides a speedy judicial remedy. The self-help clause is anient as against public policy.
Andrew Avery agrees to buy goods from Aurora Biotech. The contract sets liquidated damages at ten times the anticipated loss. A court finds the amount bears no reasonable relation to harm or proof difficulties. The clause is anient as a penalty.
Abigail Alvarez petitions to adopt a child. The proceeding occurs in a jurisdiction that has not updated its statutes. Because adoption was unknown at common law, the petition is anient absent statutory authority.
Adrian Aguilar signs a trust instrument after his nephew threatens to expose family secrets. The nephew's pressure constitutes duress. The trust is anient to the extent its creation was induced by that duress.
Alice Atkins, a lawyer, speaks to reporters about a pending case. The state disciplinary rule prohibits statements with a substantial likelihood of material prejudice but offers only a vague safe-harbor for statements without elaboration. The rule is anient for vagueness under the First Amendment.
A mortgage is anient if it does not secure a valid underlying obligation such as a debt or promise to pay. Without that obligation the security device has no force.
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When the controlling law supplies a speedy judicial remedy, any lease provision authorizing landlord self-help is void as against public policy.
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A clause fixing damages is anient if the amount is unreasonable in light of anticipated or actual harm, proof difficulties, or the feasibility of other remedies.
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Adoption was not recognized at common law and therefore remains anient absent a statute authorizing the proceeding.
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…be mockery. The particular phraseology of the Constitution confirms the principle that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void and that courts as well as other departments are bound by that instrument. Therefore the Judiciary Act insofar as it purports to extend the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction beyond that…