Definition
A duration or period that has no fixed or contemplated end point at the time it begins. In legal usage, "indefinite time" describes a temporal state in which no termination date has been established, agreed upon, or even anticipated by the relevant party or parties. The term appears across several legal contexts:
1. Residency and domicile. A person who intends to remain in a place for an indefinite time has formed no present intention to leave — no endpoint is in contemplation. This is distinct from a temporary stay, which carries an implicit expectation of departure.
2. Contract duration. An agreement for an indefinite time is one that contains no stated term or expiration. Such agreements may be terminable at will, or courts may imply a reasonable duration depending on context and subject matter.
3. Employment. Employment for an indefinite time is the baseline presumption in at-will employment jurisdictions — the relationship continues until either party ends it, with no fixed endpoint.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Indefinite" means lasting for an unknown or unstated length of time; not clearly defined or determined.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not explicit; not determined or fixed upon; vague; as, an indefinite time, plan, or promise."
The ordinary meaning and the legal meaning align closely in describing the absence of a fixed endpoint. The legal significance, however, goes further: courts treat "indefinite time" as a term of art that determines legal consequences — such as whether domicile is established, whether a contract is terminable at will, or whether an at-will employment presumption applies. The common usage conveys vagueness; the legal usage conveys a specific structural condition with doctrinal consequences.
Common Confusion
"Indefinite time" is sometimes conflated with "reasonable time." They are not the same. A reasonable time implies that a duration, though unspecified, can be measured by objective standards and will eventually run out. Indefinite time implies no contemplated end at all — the question is not how long, but whether any endpoint exists in the parties' intent. Courts and researchers should be careful not to treat these as interchangeable when interpreting contract terms or residency questions.
Why It Matters in Research
The primary research trap is treating "indefinite time" as a vague descriptor rather than a term with doctrinal weight. When Bouvier cites the proposition that indefinite time "meant that no end to such time was then contemplated," that framing — the subjective intent of the party at the relevant moment — is the operative test in domicile and residency analysis. Researchers working in immigration, domicile, or jurisdictional questions should note that the standard is prospective intent, not duration actually served.
In contract research, indefinite time connects directly to the enforceability problem: courts historically disfavored agreements with no stated duration, sometimes voiding them for indefiniteness, while modern courts are more likely to imply a reasonable time or at-will termination. The shift in judicial treatment over the twentieth century matters when working with older cases that may have applied stricter indefiniteness doctrine.
In employment law, the phrase "indefinite term" or "employment for an indefinite time" is frequently encountered in cases debating whether at-will status applies. Researchers should be alert to the fact that some jurisdictions treat a very long or implied indefinite engagement differently from a pure at-will relationship, particularly where relocation, compensation promises, or handbooks are involved.
The related Latin term INDEFINITUM (undefined, without particular designation) appears in older legal texts and Bouvier's entries. When encountered in historical sources, it signals the same conceptual territory and can often be read as a direct ancestor of the "indefinite time" formulation in modern usage.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary grounds the term in a single but instructive proposition: indefinite time, as applied to intent to reside, means that no end to that time was then contemplated. The citation to 232 U.S. 619 anchors this in early twentieth-century federal jurisprudence on residency or domicile questions. Bouvier does not attempt a comprehensive definition; instead, the entry functions as a gloss on how courts were then applying the phrase in a specific context.
What Bouvier's treatment misses, as would be expected of its era, is the contract law dimension — particularly the at-will employment and enforceability questions that would become prominent through the mid-to-late twentieth century. Researchers relying solely on Bouvier will get the domicile usage but will need modern secondary sources to fill in the contractual and employment dimensions.
The companion entry for INDEFINITUM reinforces that the underlying concept — unspecified, undesignated duration — was well-established in the Latin-influenced legal vocabulary long before English-language formulations standardized around "indefinite time."
Jurisdictional Note
In employment law, the significance of "indefinite time" varies considerably. Most U.S. jurisdictions treat employment for an indefinite term as at-will employment by default. A minority of jurisdictions, and many civil law systems outside the United States, impose notice requirements or implied-term protections even where no fixed duration exists.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Contracts — Indefiniteness and Agreement to Agree (The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia)
Interpretation — Time of the Essence Clauses (The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia)