Legal Definitions - de annuo reditu

de annuo reditu was a historical legal writ, or formal court order, used in past legal systems to recover an annuity. An annuity is a fixed sum of money or a specific quantity of goods that is promised to be paid to an individual on an annual basis, often for a set period or for the recipient's lifetime.

This writ allowed the person entitled to receive these yearly payments to legally compel the payer to deliver the promised money or goods if they failed to do so.

• Example 1 (Monetary Annuity): Imagine a medieval lord, Lord Alaric, who, in gratitude for loyal service, promised his retired knight, Sir Kael, an annual pension of twenty silver coins for the remainder of Sir Kael's life. If, after several years, Lord Alaric's estate fell into financial difficulty and stopped making these payments, Sir Kael would have historically used a writ of de annuo reditu to legally force Lord Alaric or his heirs to resume the annual payment of the twenty silver coins.

• Example 2 (Annuity in Goods): Consider a 15th-century monastery that leased a portion of its land to a local farmer, Elias. The lease agreement stipulated that Elias would pay the monastery an annual rent consisting of thirty bushels of oats and two barrels of cider. If, one year, Elias delivered only twenty bushels of oats and no cider, the monastery could have sought a de annuo reditu writ to recover the outstanding ten bushels of oats and the two barrels of cider, as these were specific goods promised as a yearly payment.

• Example 3 (Mixed Annuity): Suppose a wealthy merchant, Lady Isabella, established a trust to provide her elderly governess, Mistress Elara, with an annual allowance of ten gold florins and a new winter cloak made of fine wool. If, after Lady Isabella's passing, her heirs continued to pay the gold florins but neglected to provide the annual cloak, Mistress Elara could have pursued a de annuo reditu action to legally enforce the delivery of the specific yearly item (the cloak) that was part of her promised annuity.