contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

, extinguishment is the destruction of a

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

. Rawle, Francis; Bouvier, John. (1914) Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
Extinguishment.
' Pp. 1166-1167. 3rd revision (being the 8th ed.) Vernon Law Book Co. ; St. Paul, Minnesota. Publisher: West Publishing Company. 3 vols. If the subject of the contract is destroyed (such as through merging the contract subject and the contract

obligation An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when ther ...

), then the contract may be made void. Extinguishment occurs in a variety of contracts, such as

land contract A land contract, often described by other terminology listed below, is a contract between the buyer and seller of real property in which the seller provides the buyer financing in the purchase, and the buyer repays the resulting loan in installmen ...

s (common, copyhold),

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The d ...

s, rents, and right of ways. A right may be extinguished by nullifying that right or, in the case of a debt, discharged by payment in full or through settlement.

Dictionary.com Dictionary.com is an online dictionary whose domain was first registered on May 14, 1995. The primary content on Dictionary.com is a proprietary dictionary based on ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'', with editors for the site providing new a ...

(2008)
Extinguishment.
' Accessed June 16, 2008 An extinguishment may be by matter of fact and by matter of law. If a creditor receives satisfaction and full payment of a debt and the creditor releases the debtor, then that is express extinguishment by matter of fact. If a person is renting land and subsequently becomes the owner of that same land by purchase or descent, the rent is extinguished through implied extinguishment by matter of fact. There are numerous situations where a claim is extinguished by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

. If two persons are jointly but not severally liable for a

simple contract In contract law, a ''simple contract'' is a contract made orally or in writing or both of them rather than a contract made under seal. Simple contracts require consideration to be valid, but simple contracts may be implied from the conduct of parti ...

debt, a judgment at

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

obtained against only one of the debtors works as an extinguishment of the claim on the other debtor as a matter of law. A conveyance of mortgaged land by the mortgagor to the mortgagee extinguishes the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any p ...

. However taking a promissory note for the amount due on the mortgage does not deprive the mortgage holder of a right to a

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

, but merely suspends its enforcement until the note is payable.

Extinguishment of common

Common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who ha ...

(a common), in England and Wales and the United States, is a piece of land owned by one person, but over which other people can exercise certain traditional rights, such as allowing their livestock to graze upon it. If the owner of the common right becomes the owner of the fee simple estate, then the common right becomes extinguished. If the crop or other item over which there is a common right is severed from the land, then the common right becomes extinguished. Other situations in which the common right becomes extinguished include

legal release A legal release is a legal instrument that acts to terminate any legal liability between the releasor and the releasee(s), signed by the releasor. A release may also be made orally in some circumstances. Releases are routinely used by photographer ...

and approvement (improvement of common lands, by inclosing and converting them to the uses of husbandry for the advantage of the lord of the manor.)

Extinguishment of copyhold

copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the m ...

was a parcel of

land tenure In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individua ...

granted to a peasant by the lord of the manor in return for services, such as agricultural services. Such grants/servitude was not always in the best interest of the peasant and the copyhold could be extinguished by an act of the tenant showing an intention not to hold the land any longer. Copyholds may be extinguished by the union of the copyhold and the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England * Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

in the same person. Copyholds were gradually enfranchised (turned into ordinary holdings of land—either

or 999-year

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

) during the 19th century. Legislation in the 1920s finally extinguished the last of them.

Extinguishment of a debt

Debts may be extinguished by the creditor accepting a higher security. If the creditor recovers a judgment, the original debt is extinguished. However, a trust deed given to secure the payment of a bond is not extinguished by a judgment on the bond since the original debt is not merged by the trust deed. A debt evidenced by a note may be extinguished by a

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

of the note

Extinguishment of rent

A union of the title to the lands and the rent in the same person will extinguish the rent. In

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, a

ground rent As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of ...

(rent of unimproved land) is extinguished by a conveyance from the ground rent owner to the tenant.

Extinguishment of ways

Right of ways include the right to use the land of another for a special purpose, such as a passageway. If the owner of the right of way purchases the close over which the right of way lies, the right of way is extinguished.

Notes

References

* Rawle, Francis; Bouvier, John. (1914) Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
Extinguishment.
' Pp. 1166-1167. 3rd revision (being the 8th ed.) Vernon Law Book Co. ; St. Paul, Minnesota. Publisher: West Publishing Company. 3 vols. {{Law Contract law