Legal Definitions - ad perpetuam remanentiam

ad perpetuam remanentiam

This Latin phrase translates to "to remain forever" or "for permanent retention." In a legal context, it describes a situation where something—a right, property, or status—is established, transferred, or surrendered with the explicit intention that it will endure indefinitely, without any possibility of reversal or reclamation by the original party.

Here are some examples:

• Imagine a landowner who wants to protect their ancestral forest from development. They might grant a conservation easement to a land trust. This legal agreement permanently restricts future construction or logging on the property. The landowner surrenders certain development rights ad perpetuam remanentiam, meaning these restrictions are intended to remain in effect forever, binding all future owners of the land, ensuring the forest's preservation indefinitely.

• Consider a court case where a company is found to have infringed on another company's patent. The court might issue a permanent injunction, legally prohibiting the infringing company from manufacturing or selling the patented product ever again. This injunction is granted ad perpetuam remanentiam, signifying that the prohibition is intended to be perpetual and without end, unless a higher court later overturns the decision.

• When an individual creates an irrevocable trust, they transfer assets (like money or property) into it for the benefit of specific beneficiaries. Once the assets are placed into an irrevocable trust, the person who created it generally cannot take them back or change the terms of the trust. The assets are committed to the trust ad perpetuam remanentiam, meaning they are permanently surrendered to the trust's control and purpose, to remain within its structure according to the established rules forever.