Debt in United States

Debt Definition

Any sum of money due under contract, express or implied. 20 Cal. 351. Blackstone restricts the term to money due on express contract (3 Bl. Comm. 154), but it has been thought that he used the word “express” not so much in contradistinction to implied contracts, as to liabilities arising outside of contract. 2 Mo. Apt). 94. The word includes not only debts of record or judgments and debts by specialty, but all that is due to a man under any form of promise. 3 Mete. (Mass.) 526. In a strict sense, it is confined to sums fixed by agreement, and not dependent on after calculation (1 Yeates [Pa.] 70), but in common use, the absolute fixing of the amount is not necessary (2 Wash. C. C. [U.S.I 386). “Debt” is a much narrower word than “demand.” 2 Hill (N. Y.) 223. Many qualifying terms are used with the word “debt,” most of which are self-explanatory. A few of the more obscure may be given :
(1) Active debt is one due to a person. Used in the civil law.
(2) Doubtful debt is one of which the payment is uncertain. Clef des Lois Romaines.
(3) Hypothecary debt is one which is a lien upon an estate.
(4) Judgment debt is one which is evidenced by matter of record.
(5) Liquid debt is one which is immediately and unconditionally due..
(6) Passive debt is one which a person owes.
(7) Privileged debt is one which is to be paid before ethers, in case a debtor is insolvent.
(8) Debt of record is one proved to exist by the official records of a court of record, as a judgment or a recognizance. In Practice. A form of action which lies to recover a sum certain. 2 Greenl. Ev. § 279. It lies wherever the sum due is certain or ascertained in such a manner as to be readily reduced to a certainty, without regard to the manner in which the obligation was incurred or is evidenced. 3 Sneed (Tenn.) 145; 1 Dutch. (N. J.) 606; 26 Miss. 521; 3 McLean (U.S.) 150; 2 A. K. Marsh. (Ky.) 264; 1 Mason (U.S.) 243. It is thus distinguished from “assumpsit,” which lies as well where the sum due is uncertain as where it is certain, and from “covenant,” which lies only upon contracts evidenced in a certain manner. It is said to lie in the debet and detinet, when it is stated that the defendant owes and detains, or in the detinet, when it is stated merely that he detains. Debt in the detinet for goods differs from detinue, because it is not essential in this action, as in detinue, that the specific property in the goods, should have been vested in the plaintiff at the time the action is brought. Dyer, 24b. It is used for the recovery of a debt eo nomine and in numero, though damages, which are in most instances merely nominal, are usually awarded for the detention. 1 H. Bl. 550; Cowp. 588.

Debt in Foreign Legal Encyclopedias

Back to Top

For starting research in the law of a foreign country:

Browse the American Encyclopedia of Law for Debt

Scan Debt in the appropriate area of law:

Explore other Reference Works

Back to Top

Legal Issue for Attorneys

Any sum of money due under contract, express or implied. 20 Cal. 351. Blackstone restricts the term to money due on express contract (3 Bl. Comm. 154), but it has been thought that he used the word “express” not so much in contradistinction to implied contracts, as to liabilities arising outside of contract. 2 Mo. Apt). 94. The word includes not only debts of record or judgments and debts by specialty, but all that is due to a man under any form of promise. 3 Mete. (Mass.) 526. In a strict sense, it is confined to sums fixed by agreement, and not dependent on after calculation (1 Yeates [Pa.] 70), but in common use, the absolute fixing of the amount is not necessary (2 Wash. C. C. [U.S.I 386). “Debt” is a much narrower word than “demand.” 2 Hill (N. Y.) 223. Many qualifying terms are used with the word “debt,” most of which are self-explanatory. A few of the more obscure may be given :
(1) Active debt is one due to a person. Used in the civil law.
(2) Doubtful debt is one of which the payment is uncertain. Clef des Lois Romaines.
(3) Hypothecary debt is one which is a lien upon an estate.
(4) Judgment debt is one which is evidenced by matter of record.
(5) Liquid debt is one which is immediately and unconditionally due..
(6) Passive debt is one which a person owes.
(7) Privileged debt is one which is to be paid before ethers, in case a debtor is insolvent.
(8) Debt of record is one proved to exist by the official records of a court of record, as a judgment or a recognizance. In Practice. A form of action which lies to recover a sum certain. 2 Greenl. Ev. § 279. It li
es wherever the sum due is certain or ascertained in such a manner as to be readily reduced to a certainty, without regard to the manner in which the obligation was incurred or is evidenced. 3 Sneed (Tenn.) 145; 1 Dutch. (N. J.) 606; 26 Miss. 521; 3 McLean (U.S.) 150; 2 A. K. Marsh. (Ky.) 264; 1 Mason (U.S.) 243. It is thus distinguished from “assumpsit,” which lies as well where the sum due is uncertain as where it is certain, and from “covenant,” which lies only upon contracts evidenced in a certain manner. It is said to lie in the debet and detinet, when it is stated that the defendant owes and detains, or in the detinet, when it is stated merely that he detains. Debt in the detinet for goods differs from detinue, because it is not essential in this action, as in detinue, that the specific property in the goods, should have been vested in the plaintiff at the time the action is brought. Dyer, 24b. It is used for the recovery of a debt eo nomine and in numero, though damages, which are in most instances merely nominal, are usually awarded for the detention. 1 H. Bl. 550; Cowp. 588.

This definition of Debt Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Debt in State Statute Topics

Introduction to Debt (State statute topic)

The purpose of Debt is to provide a broad appreciation of the Debt legal topic. Select from the list of U.S. legal topics for information (other than Debt).

Resources

Further Reading

• Information about Debt in the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law.