Also known as: severs · severed · severing · severance · severances · severable · severability · sever claims · sever contract
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An action or event that divides or terminates a previously unified legal interest or relationship.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Santiago Sanchez lived with his nonmarital child as part of a family unit. After the mother died the state moved to place the child in foster care without a hearing. The court required a process to decide whether the parental relationship could be severed because due process protects the father's custodial interest.
Southland Foods contracted to buy growing crops from a farm. The parties identified the crops to the contract while still attached to the land. Once the seller severed the crops they became goods under the UCC definition and the sale rules applied.
Stella Shapiro and Sebastian Santos held land as joint tenants with right of survivorship. After their divorce the statute automatically severed their interests and converted them into equal tenancies in common so neither retained a survivorship right.
Samantha Stone bought stock after Basic Inc. made misleading statements about merger talks. Market makers already knew the truth so the price was unaffected. The court held that this severed the link between the misrepresentation and the price paid.
Sabrina Shah challenged a state abortion statute containing an unconstitutional section. The court applied the severability clause and struck only the invalid provision while leaving the remainder of the statute in force.
Stonehaven Properties sued New York City claiming a regulatory taking of its terminal. The trial court severed the question of damages for a temporary taking from the main injunctive and declaratory claims so the constitutional issues could be resolved first.
An outright conveyance of one joint tenant's interest to a third party destroys the unities and severs the joint tenancy. A mortgage alone does not sever it in lien-theory states until foreclosure occurs.
A court may sever claims or parties when continued joinder would be inefficient or prejudicial. The court may also sever a third-party claim or try it separately on motion.
A court may sever an illegal clause from the contract rather than voiding the entire agreement when the illegal portion can be separated without defeating the parties' intent.
…those states which enact it. "SECTION 4. [ Short Title. ] This Act may be cited as the Uniform Abortion Act. "SECTION 5. [ Severability. ] If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this Act which…