Also known as: specifically authorize · specific authorization · specifically authorizes · specifically authorizing · expressly authorized · particular authorization
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An explicit grant of permission by statute, will, declaration, or other controlling legal instrument that permits conduct otherwise prohibited or restricted by general rules.
Judge Elena Vargas agreed to mediate a commercial dispute between two local businesses after both parties requested her involvement. The state statute contained no provision allowing sitting judges to perform mediation outside their official duties. The judicial conduct commission later disciplined Vargas because the mediation lacked the required express authorization from law.
After her father's death, personal representative Nora Kline sold estate farmland to a corporation in which her husband held a controlling interest. The will contained only a general power to sell assets and did not name the corporation or approve the sale. Beneficiary Theo Kline successfully petitioned to void the sale because the will did not expressly authorize the conflicted transaction.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The board of the Silverlake Commons community imposed a $200 annual technology fee on each lot to fund a new resident portal. The declaration authorized only assessments for maintenance and security and contained no language permitting technology fees. Lot owner Sierra Santos obtained an injunction because the fee lacked express authorization in the declaration.
Authorization is specific when the governing instrument or statute names the precise conduct, party, or circumstance and grants permission in clear terms. General grants of power or silence on the point do not qualify. Courts and disciplinary bodies require this explicit language before excusing otherwise prohibited acts.
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No. The statute demands that the will or a contract entered into by the decedent expressly authorize the particular transaction. A broad grant of power to sell assets or enter contracts does not meet this standard when the transaction involves the representative's own interest.
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No. Fees for services or use of common property must be reasonably related to costs or value unless the declaration expressly authorizes the fee. General powers to levy assessments do not extend to new categories of charges without specific wording.
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