Legal Definitions - donec

Donec is a historical Latin term that was used in older legal documents, particularly those related to property transfers and agreements. It functioned as a conditional word, meaning "as long as," "while," or "until." It was employed to specify a duration or a condition that had to be met for a certain right, obligation, or state of affairs to continue or to come into effect.

Here are some examples to illustrate its historical application:

• Imagine an ancient deed granting a family the right to draw water from a specific well on neighboring land, stating this right would exist "donec" the well on their own property ran dry. This meant the family could use the neighbor's well as long as their own well remained unusable. Once their own well was restored, their right to use the neighbor's well would cease.

• Consider a historical agreement where a lord granted a tenant the right to farm a parcel of land "donec" the tenant failed to pay the annual tribute. In this context, the tenant could continue farming the land until they defaulted on their payment. If they missed a payment, their right to farm the land would be forfeited.

• An old will might have stipulated that a certain income from an estate would be paid to a guardian "donec" the minor heir reached the age of majority. This meant the guardian would receive the income until the heir turned 18 (or whatever age was defined as majority), at which point the payments to the guardian would stop.