Also known as: null & void · void · invalid · of no effect
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A condition of legal invalidity that deprives an instrument, agreement, or provision of any binding force or effect.
Naomi Norton signed a mortgage on her warehouse to Nile Shipping to secure repayment of a supposed loan. The underlying note was later held void because it rested on a discharged prior obligation. The court ruled the mortgage itself null and void because no enforceable debt remained to support the security interest.
Nolan Nunez leased a storefront to Nobel Dynamics under a clause allowing the landlord to reenter by force upon any default. State law provided a speedy judicial remedy for holdover tenants and did not preserve self-help. The court declared the self-help provision null and void as contrary to public policy.
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Nalini Narula contracted to buy components from Nimbus Cloud and agreed to pay $500,000 in liquidated damages for any late delivery. Actual harm from delay was easily measurable and far smaller. The court found the clause fixed an unreasonably large amount and held it null and void as a penalty.
Nicholas Nunez executed a will leaving his estate to a trust he had created during life. The trust instrument was later invalidated for lack of proper execution. Because the trust never came into existence, the devise lapsed and the property passed by intestacy rather than under the will.
Noelle North filed an adoption petition in a county where she had never resided. State statutes required residency in the filing county and provided no common-law basis for adoption jurisdiction. The court dismissed the proceeding, treating the filing as jurisdictionally void.
Naveen Nanda persuaded his elderly aunt to execute a trust naming him sole beneficiary while she was under heavy medication and isolated from other relatives. Evidence showed the aunt lacked independent advice. The court declared the trust null and void to the extent it resulted from undue influence.
A mortgage requires a valid underlying obligation such as a debt or promise to pay. If that obligation is void or discharged, the mortgage itself becomes unenforceable because security devices depend on an enforceable debt.
When controlling law supplies a speedy judicial remedy for recovering possession, any lease clause authorizing landlord self-help is against public policy and therefore void.
A term fixing damages is void as a penalty when the amount is unreasonable in light of anticipated or actual harm, the difficulty of proving loss, or the feasibility of other remedies.
A trust is void to the extent its creation was procured by fraud, duress, or undue influence, regardless of later amendments or revocations.
…competing Kentucky corporation, should be prevented from interfering with that privilege. Knowing that such a contract would be void under the common law of Kentucky, it was arranged that the Brown and Yellow reincorporate under the law of Tennessee, and that the contract with the railroad should be executed there. The…