Abandonment

8 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abandonment \A*ban"don*ment\ (-ment), n. [Cf. F. abandonnement.]
     1. The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned;
        total desertion; relinquishment.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The abandonment of the independence of Europe.


                                                    --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mar. Law) The relinquishment by the insured to the
        underwriters of what may remain of the property insured
        after a loss or damage by a peril insured against.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Com. Law)
        (a) The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege, as
            to mill site, etc.
        (b) The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound
            by a special relation, as a wife, husband, or child;
            desertion.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Careless freedom or ease; abandon. [R.] --Carlyle.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  abandonment
       n 1: the act of giving something up [syn: {forsaking}, {desertion}]
       2: withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or
          responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and children
          left them penniless" [syn: {desertion}, {defection}]
       3: the voluntary surrender of property (or a right to property)
          without attempting to reclaim it or give it away

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT, lights.  The relinquishment of a right; the giving up of
  something to which we are entitled.
       2. Legal rights, when once vested, must be divested according to law,
  but equitable rights may be abandoned. 2 Wash. R. 106.  See 1 H. & M. 429; a
  mill site, once occupied, may be abandoned. 17 Mass. 297; an application for
  land, which is an inception of title, 5 S. & R. 215; 2 S. & R. 378; 1
  Yeates, 193, 289; 2 Yeates, 81, 88, 318; an improvement, 1 Yeates, 515 ; 2
  Yeates, 476; 5 Binn. 73; 3 S. & R. 319; Jones' Syllabus of Land Office
  Titles in Pennsylvania, chap. xx; and a trust fund, 3 Yerg. 258 may be
  abandoned.
       3. The abandonment must be made by the owner without being pressed by
  any duty, necessity or utility to himself, but simply because he wishes no
  longer to possess the thing; and further it must be made without any desire
  that any other person shall acquire the same; for if it were made for a
  consideration, it would be a sale or barter, and if without consideration,
  but with an intention that some other person should become the possessor, it
  would be a gift: and it would still be a gift though the owner might be
  indifferent as to whom the right should be transferred; for example, he
  threw money among a crowd with intent that some one should acquire the title
  to it.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT, contracts.  In the French law, the act by which a debtor
  surrenders his property for the benefit of his creditors. Merl. Rep. mot
  Abandonment.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT, contracts.  In insurances the act by which the insured
  relinquishes to the assurer all the property to the thing insured.
       2. No particular form is required for an abandonment, nor need it be in
  writing; but it must be explicit and absolute, and must set forth the
  reasons upon which it is founded.
       3. It must also be made in reasonable time after the loss.
       4. It is not in every case of loss that the insured can abandon.  In the
  following cases an abandonment may be made: when there is a total loss; when
  the voyage is lost or not worth pursuing, by reason of a peril insured
  against or if the cargo be so damaged as to be of little or no value; or
  where the salvage is very high, and further expense be necessary, and the
  insurer will not engage to bear it or if what is saved is of less value than
  the freight; or where the damage exceeds one half of the value of the goods
  insured or where the property is captured, or even detained by an indefinite
  embargo ; and in cases of a like nature.
       5. The abandonment, when legally made transfers from the insured to the
  insurer the property in the thing insured, and obliges him to pay to the
  insured what he promised him by the contract of insurance. 3 Kent, Com. 265;
  2 Marsh. Ins. 559  Pard. Dr. Coin. n. 836 et seq. Boulay Paty, Dr. Com.
  Maritime, tit. 11, tom. 4, p. 215.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT.  In maritime contracts in the civil law, principals are
  generally held indefinitely responsible for the obligations which their
  agents have contracted relative to the concern of their commission but with
  regard to ship owners there is remarkable peculiarity; they are bound by the
  contract of the master only to the amount of their interest in the ship, and
  can be discharged from their responsibility by abandoning the ship and
  freight. Poth. Chartes part. s. 2, art. 3, Sec. 51; Ord. de la Mar. des
  proprietaires, art. 2; Code de Com. 1. 2, t. 2, art. 216.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT for torts, a term used in the civil law.  By the Roman law, when
  the master was sued for the tort of his slave, or the owner for a trespass
  committed by his animal, he might abandon them to the person injured, and
  thereby save himself from further responsibility.
       2. Similar provisions have been adopted in Louisiana.  It is enacted by
  the civil code that the master shall be answerable for all the damages
  occasioned by an offence or quasi offence committed by his slave.  He may,
  however, discharge himself from such responsibility by abandoning the slave
  to the person injured; in which case such person shall sell such slave at
  public auction in the usual form; to obtain payment of the damages and
  costs; and the balance, if any, shall be returned to the master of the
  slave, who shall be completely discharged, although the price of the slave
  should not be sufficient to pay the whole amount of the damages and costs;
  provided that the master shall make abandonment within three days after the
  judgment awarding such damages, shall have been rendered; provided also that
  it shall not be proved that the crime or offence was committed by his order,
  for in such cases the master shall be answerable for all damages resulting
  therefrom, whatever be the amount, without being admitted to the benefit of
  abandonment. Art. 180, 181.
       3. The owner of an animal is answerable for the damages he has caused;
  but if the animal had been lost, or had strayed more than a day, he may
  discharge himself from this responsibility, by abandoning him to the person
  who has sustained the injury, except where the master has turned loose a
  dangerous or noxious animal, for then he must pay for all the harm he has
  done, without being allowed, to make the abandonment. Ib. art. 2301.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ABANDONMENT, malicious.  The act of a husband or wife, who leaves his or her
  consort willfully, and with an intention of causing perpetual separation.
       2. Such abandonment, when it has continued the length of time required
  by the local statutes, is sufficient cause for a divorce. Vide 1 Hoff. R.
  47; Divorce.