Also known as: vis aut metus · duress · metus
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A historical standard measuring the degree of force or fear required to establish duress. The test asks whether the pressure would overcome the will of a person of ordinary firmness and resolution. Conduct or assent obtained by such pressure is ineffective.
Vanessa Vega faced foreclosure on her home. The lender's agent threatened immediate seizure of all personal property unless she signed a deed in lieu transferring title. Vega signed to avoid the seizure. A court later examines whether the threat rose to the level that would overcome a person of ordinary firmness.
A lawyer approached Vera Vu at her workplace and threatened to publicize private family matters unless she retained the lawyer for an upcoming matter. Vu signed a retainer under the pressure. The disciplinary authority assesses whether the threat meets the firmness standard for prohibited coercion.
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Vincente Vukovic refused to sign a contract revision. The other party grabbed his hand and forced the pen across the page while he protested. The resulting signature is examined to determine whether the physical force satisfied the standard of duress that overcomes ordinary resolution.
Viola Volkov's caregiver threatened to abandon her unless she changed her will to include the caregiver. Volkov executed the new will. A court determines whether the threat of abandonment would overcome the will of a person of ordinary firmness.
Veronica Varela was told she would lose custody rights to her children unless she signed a premarital agreement on the eve of the wedding. She signed to avoid the loss. The court evaluates whether the threat meets the standard of pressure that overcomes ordinary firmness.
Vanessa Vinson's heirs challenge her will, claiming a relative threatened to expose family secrets unless she disinherited others. The contestants must prove the pressure reached the level that would overcome a person of ordinary firmness.
The maxim requires force or fear that would overcome a person of ordinary firmness and resolution. Courts apply this objective measure to determine whether assent or a donative transfer is ineffective.
Supporting sources
No. The standard is objective and asks what a person of ordinary firmness would withstand. Evidence of the victim's personal vulnerability may be relevant but is not controlling.
Supporting sources
It supplies the historical benchmark still used to gauge whether threats or force render conduct or assent ineffective in contracts, wills, and other transactions.
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…for a spell of several hours pausing only for the subject's necessities in acknowledgment of the need to avoid a charge of duress that can be technically substantiated. In a serious case, the interrogation may continue for days, with the required intervals for food and sleep, but with no respite from the atmosphere of…