Legal Definitions - casus incogitati

Casus incogitati refers to circumstances that were unforeseen or not considered at the time a legal document or agreement was created.

In legal practice, this term describes a situation or event that was not anticipated or specifically addressed within a contract, will, statute, or other legal instrument. When such an unthought-of circumstance arises, a court or legal authority may need to interpret the existing document or apply principles of fairness (equity) to resolve the issue, as the original instrument does not provide a clear or explicit solution.

• Example 1: Commercial Lease Agreement

  A business signs a 20-year lease for a storefront in a bustling downtown area. The lease agreement meticulously details rent increases, maintenance responsibilities, and permitted uses of the property. Five years into the lease, the city decides to permanently close the street to all vehicular traffic, converting it into a pedestrian-only zone. This change significantly impacts the tenant's ability to receive deliveries and customer access, which was not foreseen or addressed in the original lease.

  This illustrates casus incogitati because the city's radical change to the street's accessibility was an unthought-of circumstance that fundamentally altered the premises' utility in a way not covered by the lease's terms.

• Example 2: Testamentary Will

  A person drafts a will stating that their entire estate should be divided equally among their two adult children. Years later, before the person's death, one of the children is diagnosed with a severe, debilitating illness that requires lifelong, expensive medical care, rendering them unable to work. The will makes no provision for such a catastrophic health event affecting one of the beneficiaries.

  This is an example of casus incogitati because the unforeseen and profound change in one child's circumstances was not anticipated when the will was written, leading to a potential need for equitable consideration beyond the will's literal terms.

• Example 3: Construction Contract

  A construction company enters into a contract to build a new office complex on a specific plot of land. The contract includes clauses for delays due to weather, material shortages, and labor disputes. During excavation, an ancient, previously undiscovered archaeological site is found beneath the property, leading to a government-mandated halt on construction for extensive archaeological study and preservation efforts. This type of discovery was not mentioned or accounted for in the contract.

  This situation represents casus incogitati because the discovery of a significant archaeological site and the subsequent government intervention was an unthought-of circumstance that caused an indefinite delay, falling outside the scope of the contract's standard delay provisions.