Legal Definitions - worthless

The term worthless describes something that possesses no practical utility, monetary value, or inherent significance. It signifies a complete absence of worth, rendering it useless or without any benefit.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of "worthless":

• Imagine a company that has gone through bankruptcy proceedings. After all its debts have been paid off and its remaining assets sold, there is nothing left to distribute to the shareholders. In this scenario, the shares of that company become worthless because they no longer represent any claim on the company's assets or future earnings, holding no financial value.

• Consider a situation where an individual owns a very old, severely damaged car that is beyond repair and cannot be driven. The cost to fix it far exceeds its potential market value, and no one is willing to buy it, even for parts. This car would be considered worthless because it has no functional use, no resale value, and no practical utility.

• In a legal context, if a person attempts to use a promissory note (a written promise to pay a specific sum of money) that was never properly signed by the issuer and lacks other essential legal requirements, a court might declare the note worthless. This means it has no legal enforceability and cannot be used to compel payment, effectively having no legal value.