Also known as: reasonable & necessary
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal standard that limits recovery, coverage, or privilege to those expenses, services, or acts that are both suitable in kind and extent and genuinely required for the intended objective.
Riley Rivera sees a neighbor's loose dog about to attack her prize livestock. She grabs the neighbor's nearby wheelbarrow and uses it to block the dog, denting the wheelbarrow in the process. Because the interference was reasonable and necessary to avert serious harm to her animals, the privilege shields her from liability for trespass to the chattel.
Martha Leyanna was reclassified from inpatient to observation status at a hospital. She later needed skilled nursing facility care but lacked the required three-day inpatient stay. The court examined whether her SNF care met the reasonable and necessary standard for Medicare Part A coverage, ultimately tying her standing to prove the classification error caused her out-of-pocket loss.
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Courts order support in an amount reasonable or necessary for the child's support after weighing all relevant factors, including the child's physical and emotional condition, educational needs, and each parent's financial resources. The standard focuses on the child's actual requirements rather than parental misconduct or rigid salary comparisons alone.
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Medicare covers only services and items that are reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of illness or injury. Experimental or medically unproven procedures typically fall outside this criterion, and the parameters evolve with medical research.
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Yes. A person may commit what would otherwise be a trespass to chattel or conversion if the act is or is reasonably believed to be reasonable and necessary to protect the actor, another, or a third person from serious harm, unless the beneficiary is known to be unwilling.
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