Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Actus inceptus cujus perfectio pendet ex voluntate partium revocari potest; si autem pendet ex voluntate tertiae personae, velex contingenti, revocari non potest
An act already begun whose completion depends upon the will of the parties may be recalled; but if it depends on consent of a third person or on a contingency, it cannot be recalled.
Contingent
adj. 1. Possible; uncertain; unpredictable <the trust was contingent, and the contingency never occurred>. 2. Dependent on something else; conditional <her acceptance of the position was contingent upon the firm's agreeing to guarantee her husband a position as well>.
Contingent beneficiary
The person designated in a life-insurance policy to receive the proceeds if the primary beneficiary is unable to do so. - also termed secondary beneficiary. Creditor beneficiary. A third-party beneficiary who is owed a debt that is to be satisfied by performing the contract. Direct beneficiary. See intended beneficiary.
contingent annuity
1. an annuity that begins making payments when some future event occurs, such as the death of a person other than the annuitant. 2. an annuity that makes an uncertain number of payments, depending on the outcome of a future event.
contingent beneficiary
See BENEFICIARY.
contingent claim
A claim that has not yet accrued and is dependent on some future event that may never happen.
contingent debt
A debt that is not presently fixed but that may become fixed in the future with the occurrence of some event.
contingent estate
An estate that vests only if a certain event does or does not happen. See estate on condition.
contingent fee
See CONTINGENT FEE.
contingent fund
1. A fund created by a municipality for expenses that will necessarily arise during the year but that cannot be appropriately classified under any of the specific purposes for which taxes are collected. 2. A fund segregated by a business to pay unknown costs that may arise in the future. -Also termed contingency reserve.
contingent guaranty
See GUARANTY.
contingent guaranty.
A guaranty in which the guarantor will not be liable unless a specified event occurs.
contingent interest
See INTEREST (2).
contingent interest.
An interest that the holder may enjoy only upon the occurrence of a condition precedent.
contingent legacy
A legacy that depends on an uncertain event and thus has not vested. ( An example is a legacy given to one's granddaughter "if or when she attains the age of 21."
contingent liability
A liability that will occur only if a specific event happens; a liability that depends on the occurrence of a future and uncertain event. ( In financial statements, contingent liabilities are usu. stated in footnotes.
contingent ownership
Ownership in which title is imperfect but is capable of becoming perfect on the fulfillment of some condition; conditional ownership.
contingent remainder
A remainder that is either given to an unascertained person or made subject to a condition precedent. ( An example is "to A for life, and then, if B has married before A dies, to B." - Also termed executory remainder; remainder subject to a condition precedent.
contingent trust
See TRUST.
contingent use
A use that would be a contingent remainder if it had not been limited by way of use. ( An example is a transfer "to A, to the use of B for life, with the remainder to the use of C's heirs." - Also termed future use.
contingent will
A will that takes effect only if a specified event occurs.
contingent-interest mortgage
A mortgage whose interest rate is directly related to the economic performance of the pledged property.
defense contingent fee
See reverse contingent fee under CONTINGENT FEE.
destructibility of contingent remainders
Property. The common-law doctrine requiring a future interest to vest by the time it is to become possessory or else suffer total destruction (the interest then reverting to the grantor). ( This doctrine has been abolished in all but a few American jurisdictions; the abolishing statutes are commonly termed anti-destructibility statutes. - Also termed destructibility rule. "The destructibility rule still exists in its old commonlaw form in Florida. Various authors have suggested that it also exists unchanged in Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee; but there are no statutes or recent decisions to clarify the rule's status in these states." Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell, Preface to Estates in Land and Future Interests 79 n.46 (2d ed. 1984).
negative contingent fee
See reverse contingent fee under CONTINGENT FEE. negative covenant See COVENANT (1).
ob contingentiam
. [Latin] On account of connection; in case of contingency.
reverse contingent fee
A fee in which a defense lawyer's compensation depends in whole or in part on how much money the lawyer saves the client, given the client's potential liability - so that the lower the settlement or judgment, the higher the lawyer's fee. ( For example, if a client might be liable for up to $2 million, and agrees to pay the lawyer 40% of the difference between $1 million and the amount of the settlement or judgment, then a settlement of $800,000 would result in a fee of $80,000 (40% of the $200,000 under the threshold amount of $1 million). - Also termed negative contingent fee; defense contingent fee; reverse bonus.