Legal Definitions - usurpation

Usurpation refers to the act of unlawfully taking and exercising someone else's position, authority, or power without any legal right or justification. It involves seizing control of a role, privilege, or office that rightfully belongs to another individual or entity.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Corporate Authority: Imagine a company where a former executive, whose employment was terminated, illegally accesses the company's internal communication systems. They then begin sending emails and directives to current employees, pretending to be a current senior manager and making decisions on behalf of the company.

  This is an act of usurpation because the former executive is unlawfully seizing and exercising the authority and position that rightfully belongs to a current senior manager, despite having no legal right to do so.

• Public Office: Consider a situation where a mayor's term of office has officially ended, and a new mayor has been duly elected and sworn in. However, the former mayor refuses to leave the mayoral office, continues to use the title, and attempts to issue official city directives or sign documents.

  Here, the former mayor is usurping the office and authority that now legally belongs to the newly elected official, unlawfully holding onto a position they no longer possess.

• Estate Administration: After a person passes away, a distant relative, who has no legal claim or appointment as an executor, takes control of the deceased's bank accounts and property. This relative then starts making financial decisions and selling assets as if they were the rightful administrator of the estate.

  This constitutes usurpation because the relative is unlawfully assuming the authority and position of an executor or administrator, which should be legally granted to another individual or entity.