Legal Definitions - a non habente potestatem

The Latin phrase a non habente potestatem translates to "from one not having power."

In legal terms, this concept refers to an act or transaction that is considered invalid or ineffective because the person who performed it lacked the necessary legal authority, right, or power to do so. Essentially, if someone attempts to do something they are not legally empowered to do, their action is considered to be a non habente potestatem.

Here are some examples illustrating this principle:

• Unauthorized Sale of Property: Imagine a situation where Alex finds an expensive bicycle in a storage unit he is renting. Believing it to be abandoned, he sells it to a friend, Ben. Later, the true owner of the bicycle comes forward, proving their ownership. Alex's sale of the bicycle to Ben would be considered a non habente potestatem because Alex did not legally own the bicycle and therefore did not have the power to transfer its ownership to Ben. The sale would likely be invalid, and Ben would not have acquired legal title to the bicycle.

• Employee Exceeding Authority: Consider a junior sales representative at a company who, without explicit authorization from management, signs a contract committing the company to a major, long-term partnership with another firm. The company later reviews the contract and discovers the representative acted beyond their designated authority. In this scenario, the contract signed by the representative could be deemed a non habente potestatem because the individual lacked the legal power or agency to bind the company to such a significant agreement, potentially making the contract unenforceable against the company.

• Improper Execution of a Will: Suppose an individual attempts to create a will for a deceased relative, signing it on their behalf, without having been appointed as an executor or having a valid power of attorney that extended to making such decisions. The act of signing the will would be a non habente potestatem. The person lacked the legal authority to execute a will for another individual, rendering the document invalid and without legal effect as a will.