Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An ownership right by which the owner of property acquires title to whatever is produced by or united with that property, whether naturally or artificially. The right extends to both natural increases and artificial additions that retain the original identity of the goods.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Security Interest Attaches to Coil Accession
Black Medical purchased an MRI coil from Lake Clinical under a financing agreement that granted a security interest in the coil alone. Lake Clinical filed a financing statement covering only the coil. Technicians then bolted the coil into Black Medical's existing MRI machine using mounting brackets. After default, Lake Clinical's interest continued in the coil as an accession because the coil retained its separate identity and could be removed without damage.
Perfected Interest Survives Integration
Blue Works financed a robotic arm for Southern Precision under a purchase-money security agreement and filed a financing statement describing only the arm. Southern Precision later welded the arm into its assembly line with permanent connections. After default, Blue Works retained its perfected security interest in the arm because the interest had been perfected before the arm became an accession.
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Uniform Acts
Restatements
Dictionaries
Museum Claims Accession to Artwork
A museum acquired a gouache painting that had been stolen years earlier. The current possessor argued that the museum failed to search diligently for the work. The museum asserted its ownership right under the doctrine of accession to any improvements or attachments made to the painting while it was in the possessor's hands.
Owner Asserts Right to United Property
A property owner discovered that a contractor had attached specialized equipment to land already subject to an existing mortgage. The owner invoked the right of accession to claim that the attached equipment became part of the original property by operation of law.
Landowner Claims Natural Accession
A riparian landowner asserted title to new soil deposited along the riverbank by natural accretion. The claim rested on the principle that the owner of the original tract automatically acquires any land united to it through natural processes.
Arbitration Clause Extends to Accession
A dealer financed specialized parts that were later installed in vehicles already subject to a prior financing agreement. The dealer argued that its security interest extended to the installed parts as accessions, and that any arbitration clause in the original contract governed disputes over those parts as well.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Does a security interest in an accession continue after the collateral is installed in larger goods?+
Yes. Under the governing rule a security interest may be created in an accession and continues in collateral that becomes an accession. The interest remains enforceable against the accession even after physical integration provided the accession retains its separate identity.
Supporting sources
When does a perfected security interest in an accession remain perfected?+
If the security interest is perfected when the collateral becomes an accession, the security interest remains perfected in the collateral. Perfection carries forward without the need for a new filing so long as the original perfection was in place at the moment of accession.
Supporting sources
How does the right of accession interact with certificate-of-title statutes?+
A security interest in an accession is subordinate to a security interest in the whole that is perfected by compliance with a certificate-of-title statute. The title statute controls priority for the entire good even though the accession rule would otherwise preserve the separate interest.
Supporting sources
499 U.S. 585 (1991)Conflict of Laws
…of its cruises depart from and return to Florida ports. Similarly, there is no evidence that petitioner obtained respondents’ accession to the forum clause by fraud or overreaching. Finally, respondents have conceded that they were given notice of the forum provision and, therefore, presumably retained the option of…