Ademptio

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legal term referring to the revocation of a bequest or legacy in a will
2. representing the act of removing or annulling a gift designated for a beneficiary
3. signifying the legal process by which a previously given inheritance or right is taken away or invalidated

Etymology: Ademptio is a Latin noun from the verb "adimere," meaning "to take away." The prefix "ad-" (toward, to) combines with "emere," which originally meant "to buy" or "to take," so the verb literally carried the sense of taking something from someone's possession. Roman jurists applied it to wills: if a testator gave a specific item to a person and later disposed of that item during their lifetime, or otherwise removed it from the estate, the gift was said to be "adeemed," or taken back. The Roman law term passed into English legal usage through the vocabulary of the law of wills, where "ademption" still describes a gift that fails because the property is no longer in the estate. English lawyers have used it since the early modern period, though the exact date of first English use is uncertain. The Latin form "ademptio" itself survives mainly as a Latinate label in legal writing and older treatises.

Synonyms: removal, taking away