A condition precedent is an event or state of affairs that is required before something else will occur. In
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 ...
, a condition precedent is an event which must occur, unless its non-occurrence is excused, before performance under a contract becomes due, i.e., before any contractual duty exists.
Restatement (Second) of Contracts
The Restatement (Second) of the Law of Contracts is a legal treatise from the second series of the Restatements of the Law, and seeks to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of contract common law. It is one of the best-recognized an ...
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In estate and trust law, it is a provision in a will or trust that prevents the vesting of a gift or bequest until something occurs or fails to occur, e.g. the attainment of a certain age or the predecease of another person. For comparison, a
condition subsequent A condition subsequent is a philosophical and legal term referring to a defined event which terminates a proposition or a contractual obligation. In contrast to a condition precedent, a condition subsequent brings the event (or obligation) to an end ...
brings a duty to an end whereas a condition precedent initiates a duty.
In computing, a
while loop
In most computer programming languages, a while loop is a control flow statement that allows code to be executed repeatedly based on a given Boolean condition. The ''while'' loop can be thought of as a repeating if statement.
Overview
The ' ...
sets the truth of a statement as a condition precedent for the execution of a given subroutine or other code segment. By contrast, a
do while loop
In most computer programming languages a do while loop is a control flow statement that executes a block of code and then either repeats the block or exits the loop depending on a given boolean condition.
The ''do while'' construct consists o ...
provides for the action's ongoing execution unless a given condition is determined to be false, ''i.e.'', provides for that action's execution subject to defeasance by the condition's falsity, which falsity (''i.e.'', the truth of the condition's negation) is set as a
condition subsequent A condition subsequent is a philosophical and legal term referring to a defined event which terminates a proposition or a contractual obligation. In contrast to a condition precedent, a condition subsequent brings the event (or obligation) to an end ...
.
Cases
*''
Poussard v Spiers and Pond'' (1876) 1 QBD 410
See also
*
Condition subsequent A condition subsequent is a philosophical and legal term referring to a defined event which terminates a proposition or a contractual obligation. In contrast to a condition precedent, a condition subsequent brings the event (or obligation) to an end ...
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Necessary condition
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Sufficient condition
Notes
Contract law
Property law
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