Also known as: holds out · holding out · held out · holdout · holdouts · holding oneself out
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
A representation by words or conduct that a person is a partner in a partnership or consents to being represented as a partner. The representation creates liability to a third party who relies on it when entering a transaction with the actual or purported partnership.
Public representation by words or conduct that two people are living together as spouses. The representation forms one element required to establish a common law marriage along with consent and cohabitation.
Open representation by words or conduct that a child is one's own. The representation creates a presumption of parentage when combined with marriage to the birth parent or cohabitation during the child's early years.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A representation by words or conduct that a person is a partner in a partnership or consents to being represented as a partner. The representation creates liability to a third party who relies on it when entering a transaction with the actual or purported partnership.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Coastal Capital allowed junior analyst Marilyn to use Associate Advisor business cards and attend client meetings. Marilyn presented her card to client Mark and signed a discretionary trading authorization on firm letterhead. Mark relied on the documents and transferred funds. Coastal Capital later denied the trades, but the firm's prior conduct created liability for the resulting losses.
The President ordered seizure of steel production facilities during a labor dispute. Company executives held out the government's action as exceeding enumerated powers. Lower courts reviewed whether the executive branch had authority to act without congressional approval. The seizure raised questions about the scope of presidential power under the Constitution.
Words or conduct that represent a person as a partner or consent to such a representation create liability when a third party relies on the representation and enters a transaction. Public representations increase the scope of liability even without the purported partner's actual knowledge. The liability extends to partnership obligations arising from the representation.
Supporting sources
Internal restrictions do not terminate apparent authority created by prior manifestations if third parties lack notice of the change. Continued access to firm letterhead and templates without notification preserves the appearance of authority. Liability therefore continues for transactions entered in reliance on the unchanged public representations.
Supporting sources
Public representation by words or conduct that two people are living together as spouses. The representation forms one element required to establish a common law marriage along with consent and cohabitation.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Colin and Terry exchanged vows at a publicized halftime ceremony and thereafter cohabited in a team-provided condominium. Terry referred to Colin as his spouse in interviews and at franchise events. The couple appeared together at organizational galas as spouses. These public representations satisfied the holding-out element for common law marriage analysis.
A Virginia court issued a judgment affecting land titles claimed under a federal grant. The losing party held out the state decision as final and binding. The Supreme Court considered whether it possessed authority to review the state court's ruling. The dispute centered on the relationship between state and federal judicial power.
Holding out requires public representations that the couple lives together as spouses, such as using a common last name, maintaining joint accounts, or telling community members they are married. Private statements contradicting the public image can defeat the element. No minimum duration is required if consent, cohabitation, and holding out are all present.
Supporting sources
Open representation by words or conduct that a child is one's own. The representation creates a presumption of parentage when combined with marriage to the birth parent or cohabitation during the child's early years.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Edward gave birth to a child while married to Eloise. Eloise resided with the child from birth and listed the child on Frontier Fiber family benefit records as her own. She also presented the child as hers at school events. These facts triggered the statutory presumption of parentage in Eloise's favor.
Union members picketed a supermarket located inside a privately owned shopping plaza. The property owner held out the premises as open to the public for commercial purposes. The union argued that the picketing was protected speech on quasi-public property. The case examined the boundary between private property rights and First Amendment activity.
Residing with the child for the first two years and openly holding the child out as one's own creates a presumption of parentage. The presumption also arises when a person marries the birth parent and asserts parentage in a record or on the birth certificate. The presumption can be overcome only through formal adjudication.
Supporting sources
…Amendment prohibits the NLDC from condemning their properties for the sake of an economic development plan. Petitioners are not holdouts; they do not seek increased compensation, and none is opposed to new development in the area. Theirs is an objection in principle: They claim that the NLDC's proposed use for their…
…of October 4, 1824, provided that: "Should the religious sects of this State, or any of them, according to the invitation held out
…(Sept. 9, 2009). The Government thus, by its own position, contributes to the uncertainty that §441b causes. When the Government holds out
…allocation of resources. Permitting repeated litigation of the same issue as long as the supply of unrelated defendants holds out reflects either the aura of the gaming table or 'a lack of discipline and of disinterestedness on the part of the lower courts, hardly a worthy or wise basis for fashioning rules of…
…level and most personal access offered to the largest soft money donors." Id. , at 500-503 (finding, further, that the RNC holds out