Also known as: bear · bears · bearing · bore · borne · bearers · holder
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person in possession of a negotiable instrument payable to bearer or indorsed in blank.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Brenda Booth purchased a promissory note payable to bearer from Baxter Dynamics. Before closing on related property, a storm destroyed the improvements. As bearer she could not avoid the contract or reduce the price under the majority rule allocating risk at formation.
Belinda Baxter held a bearer note and sued for nonpayment. In her Rule 26 disclosures she computed damages from the face amount and produced the note itself as the supporting document.
Bianca Baker's counsel accidentally produced a bearer instrument during discovery. Because she had taken reasonable steps to prevent disclosure and promptly rectified the error, the production did not waive any privilege attached to related communications.
Brandon Black and Bay Area Systems contracted for sale of goods using a note they both believed was payable to an identified person. When they discovered it was actually a bearer instrument, the adversely affected party avoided the contract because neither bore the risk of that mistake.
Bei Bai, an unmarried holder of a bearer instrument, challenged a statute limiting enforcement rights to married persons. The Court recognized her individual right to enforce the instrument free from unwarranted intrusion.
Bharat Bhatia leased space and held a bearer note securing improvements. After an event reduced the fair rental value, his rent abated proportionally until the default was cured or the lease ended.
An instrument states it is payable to bearer, to the order of bearer, to cash, or to the order of cash. Language that does not identify a specific person also renders the instrument payable to bearer.
Supporting sources
Possession alone suffices. The UCC defines holder as the person in possession of a negotiable instrument payable to bearer or indorsed in blank.
Supporting sources
An obligor need not pay if the instrument is lost or stolen and the claimant lacks holder-in-due-course status.
…and the reasonably expected ultimate consumer. In that way the burden of losses consequent upon use of defective articles is borne by those who are in a position to either control the danger or make an equitable distribution of the losses when they do occur. As Harper & James put it, “The interest in consumer…