Legal Definitions - sequestrate

Sequestrate refers to the act of legally taking possession of property or assets and holding them, typically by a court or a designated third party, to prevent their disposal, damage, or misuse. This temporary legal seizure or isolation ensures that the assets remain available until a legal dispute is resolved, a debt is paid, or a specific legal condition is met.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of "sequestrate":

• Imagine a situation where a business is facing a significant lawsuit, and there's concern that the company might try to move its funds overseas to avoid paying a potential judgment. A court could order the company's domestic bank accounts to be sequestrated. This means the funds would be frozen and held under the court's authority, ensuring they remain available to satisfy any financial obligations if the company loses the lawsuit. The act of the court taking control of those funds is the sequestration.

• Consider a contentious inheritance dispute where multiple family members are claiming ownership of a valuable antique car collection left by a deceased relative. To prevent any one heir from selling or damaging the collection before the court can determine the rightful owner, a judge might order the collection to be sequestrated. A neutral third party, such as a court-appointed trustee, would then take physical possession and care of the cars until the legal proceedings conclude, ensuring their preservation and availability for the eventual rightful owner.

• In a high-asset divorce case, one spouse might fear that the other spouse will liquidate shared investment portfolios or sell valuable real estate before a fair division of marital assets can be determined. To protect these assets, a court could issue an order to sequestrate the investment accounts and properties. This legal action would prevent either spouse from independently selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of these assets until the court has finalized the divorce settlement and divided the property equitably.