Relation (Contracts, Construction)

Relation, ^* contracts, construction. When an act is done at one time, and it operates upon the thing as if done at another time, it is said to do so by relation; as, if a man deliver a deed as an escrow, to be delivered by the party holding it, to the grantor, on the performance of some act, the delivery to the latter will have relation back to the first delivery. Termes de la Ley. Again, if a partner be adjudged a bankrupt, the partnership is dissolved, and such dissolution relates back to the time when the commission issued. 3 Kent, Com. 33. Vide 18 Vin. Ab. 285; 4 Com. Dig. 245; 5 Id. 339; Litt. S. C. 462-466; 2 John. 510; 4 John. 230; 15 John. 809; 2 Har. & John. 151, and the article Fiction.

^* From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856 Edition. Please see Bouvier's Legal Abbreviations & Abbreviated References for help with obscure nomenclature & references.