Legal Definitions - dead use

Dead use refers to a designated purpose or application of property, funds, or rights that is not currently active or effective but is intended to become so at a specified future time or upon the occurrence of a particular event. It represents a future entitlement or obligation that is currently dormant or suspended until its activation conditions are met.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a wealthy individual establishes a trust fund. The trust document specifies that the income generated from the fund's investments will be used to support a local animal shelter, but only after the individual's youngest grandchild turns 25 years old. Until that future date, the income might be reinvested or held in reserve. The use of the income to support the animal shelter is the "dead use" because it is a defined purpose that is not yet active and will only commence upon a specific future event.

• Consider a will that dictates how a family's ancestral farm will be managed. The will states that the farm is to be maintained by the current generation, but upon the death of the last surviving child, it must be converted into an agricultural research center. While the farm is currently operating under its existing management, its future use as a research center is a "dead use" – a planned, future application that is not yet in effect and is contingent on a specific event (the death of the last child).

• A real estate developer purchases a large parcel of land. Their development plan includes a section designated for a community sports complex, but the construction and opening of this complex are scheduled to begin only after 80% of the residential homes in the new development have been sold and occupied. Until that sales threshold is met, the land for the sports complex might remain undeveloped or be used temporarily for other purposes. The future use of that specific land as a community sports complex is a "dead use" because it is a defined future application that is currently inactive and awaiting a triggering condition.