Condition subsequent
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 83 U.S. 203 - Davis v. Gray · 1872Most cited · 501 citing opinions
a condition subsequent, operating by way of defeasance. Conditions subsequent are not favored in the law, and when they are sought to be enforced in an action, at law, there must have been a re-entry, or something equivalent to it, or the suit must fail.
How the Supreme Court has restated “Condition subsequent”
Each Supreme Court definition of “Condition subsequent,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “Condition subsequent”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “Condition subsequent” — 542 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1872–1912
The rule at law is, that if a condition subsequent be possible at the time of making it, and becomes afterwards impossible to be complied with, by the act of God, or the law, or the grantor, the estate having once vested, is not thereby divested, but becomes absolute.
impossibility
a condition subsequent presupposes a contract in effect which may be defeated by the happening or performance of a condition.