Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

DEBET SUA CUIQUE, ETC.

DEBT

DEBITTJM. Something due, or owing* a debt. Debitum et contractus stint nnllliia loci. Debt and contract are of [belong to] no place; have no particular locality. The obligation in these cases is purely personal, and actions to enforce it may be brought anywhere. 2 Inst. 231; Story, Confl. Laws. § 362; 1 Smith, Lead. Cas. 340, 363. DEBITUM IN PR2ESENTI SOL VENDUM IN PUTUBO. A debt or ob ligation complete when contracted, but of which the performance cannot be required till some future period. DEBITUM SINE BREVI. L. Lat. Debt without writ; debt without a declara tion. In old practice, this term denoted an action begun by original bill, instead of by writ. In modern usage, it is sometimes ap plied to a debt evidenced by confession of judgment without suit. The equivalent Norman-French phrase was "debit sans breve. " Both are abbreviated to d. s. b. DEBT. A sum of money due by certain and express agreement; as by bond for a de terminate sum, a bill or note, a special bar gain, or a rent reserved on a lease, where the amount is fixed and specific, and does not depend upon any subsequent valuation to settle it. 3 Bl. Comm. 154. A debt is a sum of money due by contract. It is most frequently due by a certain and ex press agreement, which fixes the amount, in dependent of extrinsic circumstances. But it is not essential that the contiact should be express, or that it should fix the precise amount to be paid. 1 Pet. 145. Standing alone, the word "debt" is as applicable to a sum of money which has been promised at a future day, as to a sum of money now due and pay able. To distinguish between the two, it may be said of the former that it is a debt owing, and of the latter that it is a debt due. Whether a claim or demand is a debt or not is in no respect deter mined by a reference to the time of payment. A sum of money which is certainly and in all events payable is a debt, without regard to the fact whether it be payable now or at a future time. A sum payable upon a contingency, however, is not a debt, or does not become a debt until the contin gency has happened. 37 Cal 524. The word "debt "is of large import, including not only debts of record, or judgments, and debts by specialty, but also obligations arising under sim ple contract, to a very wide extent; and in its pop ular sense includes all that is due to a man under any form of obligation or promise. 8 Mete. (Mass ) 522, 526. "Debt" has been differently defined, owing to the different subject-matter of the statutes in which it has been used. Ordinarily, it imports *

to the law [of the place] where he offends. 8 Inst. 34. This maxim is taken from Bracton. Bract. foL 1546. Debet sua cuique dooms esse perfugi am tutissimum. Every man's house should be a perfectly safe refuge. 12 Johns. 31, 54. Debile fundamentum fallit opus. A weak foundation frustrates [or renders vain] the work [built upon it.] Shep. Touch. 60; .Noy, Max. 5, max. 12; Finch, Law, b. 1, ch. b\ When the foundation fails, all goes to the ground; as, where the cause of action fails, the action itself must of necessity fail. Wing, Max., 113,114, max. 40; Broom, Max. 180. DEBIT. A sum charged as due or owing. The term is used in book-keeping to denote the charging of a person or an account with all that is supplied to or paid out for him or for the subject of the account. DEBITA FUNDI. L. Lat. In Scotch law. Debts secured upon land. Ersk. Inst. 4, 1, 11. DEBITA LAICORUM. L. Lat. In old English law. Debts of the laity, or of lay persons. Debts recoverable in the civil courts were anciently so called. Crabb, Eng. Law, 107. Debita sequuntur personam debitoris. Debts follow the person of the debtor; that is, they have no locality, and may be collect ed wherever the debtor can be found. 2 Kent, Comm. 429; Story, Confl. Laws, § 362. DEBITOR. In the civil and old English law. A debtor. Debitor non prsesumitur donare. A debtor is not presumed to make a gift. Whatever disposition he makes of his prop erty is supposed to be in satisfaction of his debts. 1 Kames, Eq. 212. Where a debtor gives money or goods, or grants land to his creditor, the natural presumption is that he means to get free from his obligation, and not to make a present, unless donation be expressed. Ersk. Inst. 3, 3, 93. Debitorum pactionibus ereditorum petitio neo toll! nee minui potest. 1 Poth. Obi. 103; Broom, Max. 697. The rights of creditors can neither be taken away nor diminished by agreements among the debtors. DEBITBIX. A female debtor.

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