Abandonment

Abandonment, in law, is the giving up, renunciation, or relinquishment of a possession, claim, privilege, appeal, responsibility, or right with the intent of never reclaiming or repossessing it. The term has a few different uses in separate areas of law, but it is usually used to mean “giving up an interest”. In common law, abandonment is to relinquish a right or terminate ownership without regard for its future possession either by the original owner or someone else, such as abandoning a house with no intention to return, maintain the property, or remain as the owner. Tenant abandonment is when the tenants of a rented property vacate the property before their tenancy ends, without notifying the landlord, and cease paying their rent. Other types of abandonment include that of trademarks, patents, copyrights, and insurance; it is also used in family law to describe the physical and financial abandonment of a spouse or children (sometimes called exposure or exposition, especially in cases where children are left outside), and in medical practice whereby a medical practitioner leaves a patient when they are still in need of care.