Also known as: precedent conditions · condition precedent
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An event or act that must occur before a contractual duty arises or a property interest vests. Fulfillment of the condition activates the duty or interest while its nonoccurrence prevents activation.
Priscilla Parks conveyed land to a grantee while retaining a future interest. The conveyance contained no requirement that any event occur before Priscilla could regain possession. Because the retained interest was not subject to a condition precedent, it qualified as a reversion under the applicable rule.
Highland Indemnity agreed to insure a sculpture only after completing an in-person appraisal at Samuel's gallery. The sculpture was destroyed before any appraisal occurred. The appraisal obligation functioned as a condition precedent that could never be satisfied, discharging Highland's coverage duty.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Priya Prasad sought to establish parentage of a child. The governing statute provided that genetic testing of the birth mother was not required before testing the child and the alleged parent. The mother's test therefore was not a condition precedent that had to be met first.
Pavel Petrov and Phoenix Technologies agreed to follow an arbitration organization's challenge procedures before any award. Substantial compliance with those procedures was required before either party could move to vacate the award. The agreed procedures therefore operated as a condition precedent to the vacatur motion.
Paige Porter created a general power of appointment that could not be exercised until a stated condition occurred. The power remained invalid unless the condition precedent was certain to be satisfied or became impossible within the statutory period after creation.
Pedro Pacheco and Precision Tools disputed whether a contractual precondition to arbitration had been met. The arbitration agreement delegated that determination to the arbitrator. The arbitrator therefore decided whether the condition precedent to arbitrability had been fulfilled.
A condition precedent must occur before a future interest can vest or become possessory. A reversion is defined as a reversionary interest not subject to any such condition.
Supporting sources
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(c) permits a party to allege generally that all conditions precedent have occurred or been performed. When denying that a condition precedent has occurred, however, the party must make the denial with particularity.
Supporting sources
If the contract expressly conditions performance on an event involving a unique item and that item is destroyed before the condition can be satisfied, the duty is discharged. The nonoccurrence of destruction was a basic assumption of the contract, rendering the condition precedent impossible to fulfill.
Supporting sources
The grant document may create independent contract rights even though officer status alone does not. When the grant expressly requires continued employment through the vesting date as a condition precedent, removal before that date prevents the rights from ever vesting.
Supporting sources
…determined; and that, if the defendants only agreed to sell a cow that would not breed, then the barrenness of the cow was a condition precedent to passing title, and plaintiff cannot recover. The court also charged the jury that it was immaterial whether the cow was with calf or not. It will therefore be seen that the defendants…