Legal Definitions - surmise

Legally, a surmise historically referred to a suggestion made to a court or an allegation stated within a formal complaint. This term was particularly used in ecclesiastical law to denote a specific claim or assertion.

A surmise refers to an idea or conclusion that is formed with limited or incomplete evidence; it is essentially a guess or an inference made without sufficient factual support. In a legal context, it can describe an assumption or a suggestion presented that lacks strong substantiation.

• Example 1: During a neighborhood dispute over a property line, one homeowner might surmise that their neighbor is intentionally encroaching on their land because they saw a new fence post installed slightly beyond what they remember as the original boundary. However, without a professional land survey or clear markers, this remains a surmise—an assumption based on observation rather than definitive proof of a boundary violation.

• Example 2: In a police investigation of a missing valuable item from an office, an officer might surmise that a particular employee is responsible because that employee was the last person seen near the item. This is a surmise because, while the employee's presence is a fact, the conclusion of their guilt is based on circumstantial timing rather than direct evidence like security footage or a confession.

• Example 3: During a civil trial, a lawyer might present a surmise to the jury, suggesting a possible motive for the opposing party's actions, even if there is no direct testimony or document explicitly proving that motive. The lawyer is offering an interpretation or a potential explanation that, while plausible, is not firmly established by the evidence presented in court but rather inferred from the circumstances.