Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Privies are people who have a legal interest in something, like a property or a lawsuit. There are six types of privies, including family members, people involved in contracts, and successors to claims. In a lawsuit, privies can include people who control the case, have their interests represented by someone else, or inherit a claim from someone else.
Definition: Privies (priv-eez) are people who have a legal interest in a matter or property. They are in privity with another person.
Traditionally, there were six types of privies:
The term also appears in the context of litigation. In this sense, it includes:
For example, if a person inherits property from their grandfather, they are a privy in blood. If a person is named as the executor of a will, they are a privy in representation. If a person leases a property from someone else, they are a privy in estate. If two people sign a contract together, they are privies in respect to a contract.
These examples illustrate how privies are people who have a legal interest in a matter or property. They may have a relationship with another person, such as an ancestor or a lessor, or they may be involved in a legal agreement, such as a contract or a will.