Legal Definitions - revest

To revest means to transfer a legal right, title, or property back to a person or entity that previously held it, or to restore it to them. It signifies the return of ownership, authority, or a specific legal interest after it had been temporarily transferred, suspended, or otherwise removed.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Property Ownership

  Imagine a situation where a local government temporarily acquires a piece of land from a private owner for a public works project, such as building a new road. If the project is later canceled or significantly altered, the government might decide to revest the title of the land back to the original private owner. This means the legal ownership of the land is formally transferred back to the person who owned it before the government's temporary acquisition.

• Example 2: Corporate Assets

  Consider a large corporation undergoing a complex restructuring. During this process, certain assets, like intellectual property rights or specific subsidiary companies, might be temporarily transferred to a holding company or a special purpose vehicle for administrative or financial reasons. Once the restructuring is complete and the new corporate framework is established, these assets would then revest in the appropriate operating division or subsidiary, returning their legal control and ownership to the entity that will actively use them.

• Example 3: Legal Authority or Powers

  In some legal frameworks, specific decision-making powers or regulatory authority might be temporarily delegated from a primary body to a smaller committee or an individual for a defined period or specific task. For instance, a board of directors might delegate emergency decision-making power to its executive committee during a crisis. Once the crisis is resolved, the full decision-making authority would revest in the entire board of directors, restoring their collective power to its original state.