Adeem Definition and Legal Meaning

v. adeem is a term used in the law of wills which stands for annulling of a gift made in will in case of its non-existence after the testator’s death. This could be from various reasons like destruction (act of god or willful), sale, etc. When property bequested under a will is no longer in the testator’s estate when the testator dies the court may restore back the property or its value by auctioning off testator’s residuary estate. If, for example, the will bequeathed the testator’s car to a specific person, but the testator owned no car at the time of his death, then the gift would have been adeemed.