Legal Definition and Related Resources of Vest, Vested

To become entitled to a right, estate, interest, etc. Vesting of anything may be either in interest or in possession. The present right to the future possession of property is said to be vested in interest, while the present right to the immediate possession of property is said to be vested in possession. Thus, a gift of land to A for life and on his death to B absolutely, is a right to the immediate possession thereof insofar as A is concerned in whom it is said to vest in possession. But insofar as B is concerned, the right is only vested in interest. The word is also used in opposition to the word contingent. The term is further used to denote a conveyance or transfer of any right or interest in anything by operation of law as opposed to by act of parties as where, upon a final order of foreclosure, the court vests title in the plaintiff – mortgagee. In relation to testamentary gifts, whether a gift is vested or contingent depends upon the construction of the will and if it appears that the testator had intended to make this gift in any event but only suspended the payment of it to a future time then it is a vested gift. But if he intended to annex the time itself to the legacy, as for instance a gift of a certain sum of money to A only if he attains the age of twenty-one years, in which case the gift does not become vested in A unless and until he reaches the age of twenty-one. When the bequest is in terms immediate but only the payment is postponed the legacy is vested the courts normally favor a vested gift as opposed to a contingent one which has to be expressed with certainty.

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Vest, Vested in Historical Law

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