Acquiescence is where a person who knows that he is entitled to impeach a transaction or enforce a right neglects to do so for such a length of time that, under the circumstances of the case, the other party may fairly infer that he has waived or abandoned his right. Scott v. Jackson, 89 Cal. 258, 26 Pac. 898; Lowndes v. Wicks, 69 Conn. 15, 36 Atl. 1072; Norfolk & W. R. Co. v. Perdue, 40 W. Va. 442, 21 S. El 755; Pence v. Langdon, 99 U. S. 578, 25 L. Ed. 420. Acquiescence and laches are cognate but not equivalent terms. The former is a submission to, or resting satisfied with, an existing state of things, while laches implies a neglect to do that which the party ought to do for his own benefit or protection. Hence laches may be evidence of acquiescence. Laches imports a merely passive assent, while acquiescence implies active assent. Lux v. Haggin, 69 Cal. 255, 10 Pac. 678; Kenyon v. National Life Ass’n, 39 App. Div. 276, 57 N. Y. Supp. 60: Johnson Brinkman Commission Co. v. Missouri Pac R. Co., 126 Mo. 345, 28 S. W. 870, 26 L. R, A. 840, 47 Am. St. Rep. 675.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
contracts. The consent which is impliedly given by one or both parties, to a proposition, a clause, a condition, a judgment, or to any act whatever. 2. When a party is bound to elect between a paramount right and a testamentary disposition, his acquiescence in a state of things which indicates an election, when he was aware of his rights will be prima facie evidence of such election. 3. The acts of acquiescence which constitute an implied election, must be decided rather by the circumstances of each case than by any general principle. 4. Acquiescence in the acts of an agent, or one who has assumed that character, will, be equivalent to an express authority. Acquiescence differs from assent.