ASSIGNMENT
assignment. 1. The transfer of rights or property <assignment of stock options>. [Cases:
Assignments 31. C.J.S. Assignments §§ 43, 46.] 2. The rights or property so transferred <the
aunt assigned those funds to her niece, who promptly invested the assignment in mutual funds>.
“An assignment is a transfer or setting over of property, or of some right or interest therein,
from one person to another; the term denoting not only the act of transfer, but also the instrument
by which it is effected. In these senses the word is variously applied in law.” Alexander M. Burrill,
A Treatise on the Law and Practice of Voluntary Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors§ 1, at 1
(James Avery Webb ed., 6th ed. 1894).
“Negotiability differs from assignment, with which it has obvious affinities, in at least two
respects. In the first place no notice need be given of the transfer of a negotiable instrument, and in
the second place the transfer of such an instrument is not subject to equities. Thus whereas an
assignor only transfers his rights subject to any defences which could be pleaded against him, a
transfer of a negotiable instrument to someone in good faith passes a good title, free from any such
defences. For instance a person who receives a cheque in good faith obtains a good title, even
though the cheque may have been stolen. It is not, of course, any document which has the
attributes of negotiability. Only those documents recognized by the custom of trade to be
transferable by delivery (or endorsement) are negotiable. Other documents can only be transferred
by assignment.” P.S. Atiyah, An In-troduction to the Law of Contract 278–79 (3d ed. 1981).
absolute assignment.An assignment that leaves the assignor no interest in the assigned
property or right. [Cases: Assignments 71. C.J.S. Assignments § 73.]
assignment by operation of law.A transfer of a right or obligation as a necessary consequence
of a change in legal status, regardless of the affected party’s intent. • For example, a right and a
corresponding obligation may dis-appear if they vest in the same person, as might happen in a
merger or acquisition.
assignment for value.An assignment given in exchange for consideration.
assignment in gross.A transfer of a company’s trademark separately from the goodwill of the
business. • Courts often hold that such an assignment passes nothing of value to the transferee. —
Also termed naked assignment. See ANTI-ASSIGNMENT-IN-GROSS RULEE. [Cases: Trade
Regulation 93, 101.1. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 9, 205.]
assignment of account.An assignment that gives the assignee the right to funds in an account,
usu. to satisfy a debt. [Cases: Assignments 10. C.J.S. Assignments §§ 19–21.]
assignment of application. 1.Patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s formal routing
of a patent or trademark application to the examining group to which it appears to belong based on
subject matter. 2. The transfer of the right to prosecute a patent or register a trademark. • The
assignee must show ownership in the property to be patented or registered and, if less than
absolute, the extent of ownership. See 37 CFR § 3.73. [Cases: Patents 183.]
assignment of dower (dow-<<schwa>>r). The act of setting apart a widow’s share of her
deceased husband’s real property. [Cases: Dower and Curtesy 65–112. C.J.S. Dower §§ 75–129,
169–170.]
assignment of income.See assignment of wages.
assignment of lease.An assignment in which a lessee transfers the entire unexpired remainder
of the lease term, as distinguished from a sublease transferring only a portion of the remaining
term. [Cases: Landlord and Tenant 74. C.J.S. Landlord and Tenant §§ 30, 53.]
assignment of realty.A transfer of a real-property interest that is less than a freehold. • The
term includes debt-security interests in land.
assignment of wages.A transfer of the right to collect wages from the wage-earner to a
creditor. — Also termed assignment of income. [Cases: Assignments 11.1.]
assignment pro tanto.An assignment that results when an order is drawn on a third party and
made payable from a particular fund that belongs to the drawer. • The drawee becomes an assignee
with respect to the drawer’s interest in that fund. [Cases: Assignments 49. C.J.S. Assignments §
55.]
collateral assignment.An assignment of property as collateral security for a loan. [Cases:
Secured Transactions 181. C.J.S. Secured Transactions §§ 25, 134–136.]
common-law assignment.An assignment for the benefit of creditors made under the common
law, rather than by statute. [Cases: Debtor and Creditor 1. C.J.S. Assignments for Benefit of
Creditors §§ 2, 4; Creditor and Debtor §§ 2–3.]
conditional assignment.An assignment of income (such as rent payments or accounts
receivable) to a lender, made to secure a loan. • The lender receives the assigned income only if
the assignor defaults on the underlying loan. [Cases: Mortgages 199(2); Secured Transactions
- C.J.S. Mortgages §§ 301–302; Secured Transactions §§ 25, 134–136.]
effective assignment.An assignment that terminates the assignor’s interest in the property and
transfers it to the assignee.
equitable assignment.An assignment that, although not legally valid, will be recognized and
enforced in equity — for example, an assignment of a chose in action or of future acquisitions of
the assignor. • To accomplish an “equitable assignment,” there must be an absolute appropriation
by the assignor of the debt or fund sought to be assigned. [Cases: Assignments 48. C.J.S.
Assignments §§ 2, 53.]
fly-power assignment.A blank written assignment that, when attached to a stock certificate,
renders the stock transferable. [Cases: Corporations 125. C.J.S. Corporations § 229.]
foreign assignment.An assignment made in a foreign country or in another jurisdiction.
general assignment.Assignment of a debtor’s property for the benefit of all the assignor’s
creditors, instead of only a few. — Also termed voluntary assignment. See ASSIGNMENT FOR
THE BENEFIT OF CREDITORS. [Cases: Debtor and Creditor 1. C.J.S. Assignments for
Benefit of Creditors §§ 2, 4; Creditor and Debtor §§ 2–3.]
gratuitous assignment.An assignment not given for value; esp., an assignment given or taken
as security for — or in total or partial satisfaction of — a preexisting obligation. [Cases:
Assignments 54. C.J.S. Assignments § 60.]
mesne assignment (meen). A middle or intermediate assignment; any assignment before the
last one.
naked assignment.See assignment in gross.
partial assignment.The immediate transfer of part but not all of the assignor’s right. [Cases:
Assignments 30. C.J.S. Assignments §§ 10–12.]
preferential assignment.See PREFERENTIAL TRANSFER.
total assignment.An assignment empowering the assignee to enforce the entire right for the
benefit of the assignor or others. • Examples are assignment to secure an obligation and
assignment to a trustee.
voluntary assignment.See general assignment.
wage assignment.An assignment by an employee of a portion of the employee’s pay to
another (such as a creditor). [Cases: Assignments 11.1.]
- The instrument of transfer <the assignment was appended to the contract>. [Cases:
Assignments 31. C.J.S. Assignments §§ 43, 46.] 4. A welfare recipient’s surrender of his or her
rights to child support (both current and past due) in favor of the state as a condition of receiving
governmental financial assistance <the assignment made economic sense to her because her child
support amounted to $200 a month, while she received $400 a month in welfare>.5. A task, job, or
appointment <the student’s math assignment> <assignment as ambassador to a foreign country>.6.
The act of assigning a task, job, or appointment <the assignment of various duties>.
assignment of the floor.Parliamentary law. The process by which the chair recognizes who is
entitled to speak.
- In litigation practice, a point that a litigant advances <the third assignment of error>.
new assignment.Hist. A plaintiff’s restatement of a claim because the first complaint did not
contain sufficient details. • The purpose was to allow a plaintiff to reply to a defendant’s
responsive plea that did not address the plaintiff’s specific claim because the complaint was too
general. New assignment has been replaced by amended pleadings. — Also termed novel
assignment.
“A new assignment is a restatement in the replication of the plaintiff’s cause of action. Where A
the declaration in an action is ambiguous and the defendant pleads facts which are literally an
answer to it, but not to the real claim set up by the plaintiff, the plaintiff’s course is to reply by way
of new assignment; that is, to allege that he brought his action, not for the cause supposed by the
defendant, but for some other cause, to which the plea has no application.” Benjamin J. Shipman,
Handbook of Common-Law Pleading § 214, at 370 (Henry Winthrop Ballantine ed., 3d ed. 1923).[Blacks Law 8th]