Also known as: avoids · avoided · avoiding · avoidable · avoidability · avoidance · void · invalidate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A judicial or party action that declares a contract, covenant, deed, or other instrument invalid and of no legal effect. The action eliminates enforceability and restores the parties to their pre-transaction positions where possible.
A judicial or party action that declares a contract, covenant, deed, or other instrument invalid and of no legal effect. The action eliminates enforceability and restores the parties to their pre-transaction positions where possible.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Conduct or a measure taken to forestall an undesirable event, liability, harm, or procedural consequence from occurring. The action blocks or minimizes the targeted outcome under the governing rule.
Angela Acosta learns that her friend committed arson and immediately drives the friend across state lines while hiding evidence. By supplying transportation and concealment, Angela helps the friend avoid arrest and prosecution for the felony.
Aurora Biotech contracts to buy land from Aether Technologies. Before closing a fire destroys the main building. Under the majority rule Aurora may not avoid the contract or demand a price reduction because risk of loss passed at formation.
Conduct or a measure taken to forestall an undesirable event, liability, harm, or procedural consequence from occurring. The action blocks or minimizes the targeted outcome under the governing rule.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Alexis Archer sues Apex Dynamics and sends a written notice requesting waiver of summons service. By complying with the notice requirements Alexis enables the defendant to avoid the expense of formal service while still obtaining jurisdiction.
Only eleven grand jurors vote to indict. The foreperson reports the lack of concurrence in writing to the magistrate judge rather than returning an indictment, thereby avoiding an invalid charging document and unnecessary cost.
Abigail Alvarez, facing criminal exposure, tells police that she alone falsified corporate records. Because the statement exposes her to liability a reasonable person would make it only if true, satisfying the against-interest requirement for the hearsay exception.
Alice Atkins drives onto private land to escape a sudden wildfire threatening her and nearby hikers. Because the harm avoided exceeds the harm of trespass and no statute precludes the justification, her conduct is deemed necessary to avoid the greater evil.
A class gift fails when, at the time the will or trust is executed, the designated class is both actually empty and foreseeably will remain empty given the known facts. The gift is treated as a nullity so the property passes under the residuary clause or by intestacy rather than remaining in limbo indefinitely.
The defendant must prove that he abandoned the criminal effort or prevented its commission under circumstances manifesting a complete and voluntary renunciation. Renunciation is not voluntary if motivated even in part by increased probability of detection, and it is not complete if the actor merely postpones or transfers the criminal objective.
When the description is ambiguous on its face or in light of surrounding circumstances, the court admits extrinsic evidence of the donor's actual intent and construes the gift accordingly under the preponderance standard. The court does not automatically void the gift or apply a default rule of maximum inclusion.
…be mockery. The particular phraseology of the Constitution confirms the principle that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void and that courts as well as other departments are bound by that instrument. Therefore the Judiciary Act insofar as it purports to extend the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction beyond that…