Legal Definitions - adverse dominion

Adverse dominion refers to the unlawful act of taking control or exercising authority over someone else's personal property (often referred to as "goods") in a manner that deprives the true owner of their rightful possession. It means treating another person's property as your own without permission or legal right, thereby dispossessing the actual owner.

Here are some examples illustrating adverse dominion:

• Example 1: Refusal to return borrowed property

  Imagine a person lends their valuable antique watch to a friend for a special occasion. After the event, the friend refuses to return the watch, claiming it's now theirs and begins wearing it regularly. The friend is exercising adverse dominion over the watch because they are unlawfully controlling and using the item, treating it as their own, and thereby dispossessing the true owner of their property.

• Example 2: Unauthorized use of mistakenly delivered goods

  A furniture delivery company mistakenly drops off a custom-made dining table at the wrong address. The person at that address realizes the table is not theirs but decides to keep it, assembling it and using it in their home, and ignores attempts by the delivery company and the true owner to retrieve it. By keeping and using the table, the recipient is exercising adverse dominion. They are unlawfully asserting control and ownership over property that does not belong to them, depriving the rightful owner of their possession.

• Example 3: Employee misappropriation of company assets

  An employee at a car dealership, without authorization, takes a new vehicle from the lot for personal use over an extended period, registering it under their own name and making modifications to it. The employee's actions of taking, registering, and modifying the vehicle constitute adverse dominion. They are unlawfully exercising control and authority over the dealership's property, dispossessing the company of its asset and treating it as their own.