Also known as: edicts · edictal · edictum · decree · proclamation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal decree or order issued by a court or sovereign authority that resolves a legal dispute or establishes rights and obligations.
Eugene Ellsworth and his wife hold title to a vacation home acquired during marriage. After negotiations, the court issues an edict that reclassifies the home as Eugene's individual property under the marital property agreement. This edict prevents the home from being treated as marital assets in any future division.
Edgar Evers and his spouse sign a separation agreement that keeps its terms out of the final order. The court later enters an edict that identifies the agreement and confirms its terms are not unconscionable. The edict allows the parties to enforce the agreement's provisions through contract remedies rather than contempt.
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Emily Ellis obtains a divorce from her husband before his death. The probate court issues an edict confirming that the divorce ended the marriage, so Emily is not treated as a surviving spouse entitled to an elective share. A later separation decree that left the marriage intact would not have produced the same result.
Esther Eisenberg signs a consent to adoption after the statutory waiting period. Before the court enters the final edict, she seeks to withdraw consent on the ground that withdrawal serves the child's best interests. The court schedules a hearing to decide whether the edict should still issue.
Esme Ellington and her spouse are married when their child is born. An edict later issued in a parentage action confirms the spouse's status as presumed parent because the birth occurred during the marriage. The edict can be overcome only through a formal adjudication under the governing statute.
Eva Espinosa creates an express trust by court order to manage family assets. The resulting edict requires that the trust be administered according to the rules for express trusts. This classification brings the trust within the full set of statutory duties and remedies.
An edict is a court order that can incorporate or reference a separation agreement while giving it the force of a judgment. Terms set forth in the edict become enforceable by contempt as well as contract remedies, and they may be modified only according to the decree's own provisions.
An edict can designate property as individual when it implements a marital property agreement, written consent, or reclassification under the applicable statute. The edict overrides the default marital classification and controls the property's treatment in later proceedings.
A separation edict that leaves the marriage intact does not count as a divorce. The surviving spouse therefore retains rights that would be lost only by a final divorce decree or annulment recognized under the probate statute.
Once the adoption edict is entered, consent is irrevocable. Before entry, withdrawal may be allowed only after notice and a hearing that determines whether withdrawal serves the adoptee's best interests.
…opinion in full. I write separately to call attention to this Court’s threat to American democracy. The substance of today’s decree is not of immense personal importance to me. The law can recognize as marriage whatever sexual attachments and living arrangements it wishes, and can accord them favorable civil…