OBLIGATION

An obligation is a legal duty, by which a person is bound to do or not to do a certain thing. Civil Code Cal. § 1427; Civil Code Dak. § 798. The binding power of a vow, promise, oath, or contract, or of law, civil, political, or moral, independent of a promise; that which con- stitutes legal or moral duty, and which ren- ders a person liable to coercion and punish- ment for neglecting it. Webster.

Classification. The various sorts of obli- gations may be classified and defined as fol. lows: They are either perfect or imperfect. A perfect obligation is one recognized and sanctioned by positive law; one of which the fulfillment can be enforced by the aid of the law. But if the duty created by the obliga tion operates only on the moral sense, with- out being enforced by any positive law, it is called an "imperfect obligation," and creates no right of action, nor has it any legal op- eration. The duty of exercising gratitude, charity, and the other merely moral duties is an example of this kind of obligation. Civil Code La. art. 1757. They are either natural or civil. A nat- ural obligation is one which cannot be en- forced by action, but which is binding on the party who makes it in conscience and accord- ing to natural justice. A civil obligation is a legal tie, which gives the party with whom it is contracted the right of enforcing its performance by law. Civil Code La. art. 1757. They are either express or implied; the former being those by which the obligor binds himself in express terms to perform his ob- "Obligation" is the correlative of "right." Taking the latter word in its politico-ethical sense, as a power of free action lodged in a person, "obligation" is the corresponding duty, constraint, or binding force which should prevent all other persons from deny- ing, abridging, or obstructing such right, or interfering with its exercise. And the same is its meaning as the correlative of a "jus in rem." Taking "right" as meaning a "jus in personam," (a power, demand, claim, or privilege inherent in one person, and inci-ligation; while the latter are such as are dent upon another,) the "obligation" is the coercive force or control imposed upon the person of incidence by the moral law and the positive law, (or the moral law as recognized and sanctioned by the positive law,) con- straining him to accede to the demand, ren- der up the thing claimed, pay the money due, or otherwise perform what is expected of him with respect to the subject-matter of the right. In a limited and arbitrary sense, it means a penal bond or "writing obligatory," that is, a bond containing a penalty, with a con- dition annexed for the payment of money or performance of covenants. Co. Litt. 172. Obligation is (1) legal or moral duty, as opposed to physical compulsion; (2) a duty incumbent up- on an individual, or a specific and limited number of individuals, as opposed to a duty imposed upon the world at large; (3) the right to enforce such a duty, (jus in personam,) as opposed to such a right as that of property, (jus in rem,) which avails against the world at large; (4) a bond con- taining a penalty, with a condition annexed, for the payment of money, performance of covenants, or the like. Mozley & Whitley. In English expositions of the Roman law, and works upon general jurisprudence, "ob- ligation" is used to translate the Latin "ob- ligatio. In this sense its meaning is much wider than as a technical term of English law. See OBLIGATIO. " raised by the implication or inference of the law from the nature of the transaction. They are determinate or indeterminate; the former being the case where the thing contracted to be delivered is specified as an individual; the latter, where it may be any one of a particular class or species. They are divisible or indivisible, according as the obligation may or may not be lawfully broken into several distinct obligations with- out the consent of the obligor. They are joint or several; the former, where there are two or more obligors binding themselves jointly for the performance of the obligation; the latter, where the obligors promise, each for himself, to fulfill the en- gagement. They are personal or real; the former be- ing the case when the obligor himself is per- sonally liable for the performance of the en- gagement, but does not directly bind his prop- erty; the latter, where real estate, not the person of the obligor, is primarily liable for performance. They are heritable or personal. The for- mer is the case when the heirs and assigns of one party may enforce the performance against the heirs of the other; the latter, when the obligor binds himself only, not his heirs or representatives.

A They are either principal or accessory. principal obligation is one which is the most important object of the engagement of the contracting parties; while an accessory obli- gation depends upon or is collateral to the principal. They may be either conjunctive or alterna- tive. The former is one in which the sever- al objects in it are connected by a copulative, or in any other manner which shows that all of them are severally comprised in the con- tract. This contract creates as many differ- ent obligations as there are different objects; and the debtor, when he wishes to discharge himself, may force the creditor to receive them separately. But where the things which form the object of the contract are separated by a disjunctive, then the obliga- tion is alternative. A promise to deliver a certain thing or to pay a specified sum of money is an example of this kind of obliga- tion. Civil Code La. art. 2063. They are either simple or conditional. Simple obligations are such as are not de- pendent for their execution on any event pro- vided for by the parties, and which are not agreed to become void on the happening of any such event. Conditional obligations are such as are made to depend on an uncertain event. If the obligation is not to take effect until the event happens, it is a suspensive condition; if the obligation takes effect im- mediately, but is liable to be defeated when the event happens, it is then a resolutory con- dition. Civil Code La. arts. 2020, 2021. They may be either single or penal; the latter, when a penal clause is attached to the undertaking, to be enforced in case the obli- gor fails to perform; the former, when no such penalty is added.

The act of obligating. That which obligates or constrains; the binding power of a promise, contract, oath, or vow, or of law; that which constitutes legal or moral duty. A tender conscience is a stronger obligation than a proson. Fuller. Any act by which a person becomes bound to do something to or for anouther, or to forbear something; external duties imposed by law, promise, or contract, by the relations of society, or by courtesy, kindness, etc. Every man has obligations which belong to his station. Duties extend beyond obligation, and direct the affections, desires, and intentions, as well as the actions. Whewell. The state of being obligated or bound; the state of being indebted for an act of favor or kindness; as, to place others under obligations to one. A bond with a condition annexed, and a penalty for nonfulfillment. In a larger sense, it is an acknowledgment of a duty to pay a certain sum or do a certain things. Days of obligation. See under Day.

The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone. | A social, legal, or moral requirement, duty, contract, or promise that compels someone to follow or avoid a particular course of action. | A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which someone is bound or restricted. | A legal agreement stipulating a specified action or forbearance by a party to the agreement; the document containing such agreement. | Reason for being obliged to, that is, grateful for, something.