Also known as: assurances · assure · assures · assured · assuring · life assurance · contract of assurance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A pledge or guarantee that provides confidence an obligation will be performed or a particular state of affairs will hold. The assurance may be express in a writing or implied from circumstances, and failure to provide it when demanded can trigger remedies such as suspension of performance or termination.
Anika Anand delivered a general warranty deed to Ariana Azizi that contained a covenant of further assurance. Years later a third party asserted an interest that clouded title. Ariana demanded that Anika execute a corrective instrument, and Anika's refusal exposed her to liability under the covenant.
Albert Allen, a managing partner, implemented written intake procedures and conflict-checking software. He trained associates on the new protocols and conducted quarterly audits. These steps supplied the reasonable assurance required that all lawyers in the firm would conform to professional conduct rules.
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Avalon Pharmaceuticals granted a negative easement to Apollo Energy over adjacent land. The easement prevented Apollo from erecting structures that would block light to Avalon's solar panels. Apollo's later attempt to build a tall fence was enjoined because the easement assured Avalon the continued enjoyment of unobstructed sunlight.
Aisha Ahmed contracted to supply components to Arcadia Retail by a fixed date. Rumors surfaced that Aisha's supplier had filed for bankruptcy. Arcadia demanded written assurance of timely delivery and suspended its own preparatory payments until the assurance arrived.
Audrey Ashton notified her landlord that she would vacate the premises because of repeated flooding. She removed all personal property, returned the keys, and sent a certified letter stating the reason for termination. These steps assured the landlord of her decision and effected termination of the lease.
After receiving Miranda warnings, Anita Ali remained silent during questioning. At trial the prosecution sought to introduce that silence to rebut her insanity defense. The court excluded the evidence because the warnings carried an implicit assurance that silence would carry no penalty.
The demanding party may treat the failure as a repudiation and pursue remedies for total breach, including damages or termination of the contract.
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Many jurisdictions include the covenant of further assurance among the six standard covenants in a general warranty deed, allowing the grantee to require the grantor to execute additional documents to perfect title.
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The warnings create an assurance that silence will not be penalized, so the prosecution may not introduce post-warning silence to rebut an insanity defense.
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…in nearly all these instances, the use of the word is such that it has application only postnatally. None indicates, with any assurance, that it has any possible pre-natal application. All this, together with our observation, supra , that throughout the major portion of the 19th century prevailing legal abortion practices…