A sum of money due by certain and express agreement; as by bond for a determinate sum, a bill or note, a special bargain, or a rent reserved on a lease, where the amount is fixed and specific, and does not depend upon any subsequent valuation to settle it. 3 Bl. Comm. 154; Camden v. Allen, 26 N. J. Law, 398; Appeal of City of Erie, 91 Pa. 398; Dickey v. Leonard, 77 Ga. 151; Hagar v. Reclamation Dist, 111 U. S. 701, 4 Sup. Ct. 663, 28 L. Ed. 569; Appeal Tax Court v. Rice, 50 Md. 302.
A debt is a sum of money due by contract. It is most frequently due by a certain and express agreement, which fixes the amount, independent of extrinsic circumstances. But it is not essential that the contract should be express, or that it should fix the precise amount to be paid. Standing alone, the word “debt” is as applicable to a sum of money which has been promised at a future day. as to a sum of money now due and payable. To distinguish between the two, it may be said of the former that it is a debt owing, and of the latter that it is a debt due. Whether a claim or demand is a debt or not is in no respect determined by a reference to the time of payment A sum of money which is certainly and in all events payable is a debt, without regard to the fact whether it be payable now or at a future time. A sum payable upon a contingency, however, is not a debt, or does not become a debt until the contingency has happened. People v. Arguello, 37 Cal. 624.
The word “debt” is of large import, including not only debts of record, or judgments, and debts by specialty, but also obligations arising under simple contract, to a very wide extent; and in its popular sense includes all that is due to a man under any form of obligation or promise. Gray v. Bennett, 3 Mete. (Mass.) 522, 26.”Debt” has been differently defined, owing to the different subject matter of the statutes in which it has been used. Ordinarily, it imports a sum of money arising upon a contract, express or implied. In its more general sense, it is defined to be that which is due from one person to another, whether money, goods, or services; that which one person is bound to pay or perform to another. Under the legal-tender statutes, it seems to import any obligation by contract, express or implied, which may be discharged by money through the voluntary action of the party bound. Wherever he may be at liberty to perform his obligation by the payment of a specific sum of money, the party owing the obligation is subject to what, in these statutes, is termed “debt” Kimpton v. Bronson, 45 Barb. (N. Y.) 618.
The word is sometimes used to denote an aggregate of separate debts, or the total sum of the existing claims against a person or company. Thus we speak of the “national debt,” the “bonded debt” of a corporation, et. Synonyms. The term “demand” is of much broader import than “debt,” and embraces rights of action belonging to the debtor beyond those which could appropriately be called “debts.” In this respect the term “demand” is one of very extensive import In re Denny, 2 Hill (N.Y.) 223.
The words “debt” and “liability” are not synonymous. As applied to the pecuniary relations of parties, liability is a term of broader significance than debt. The legal acceptation of debt is a sum of money due by certain and express agreement. Liability is responsibility; the state of one who is bound in law and justice to do something which may be enforced by action. This liability may arise from contracts either express or implied, or In consequence of torts committed. McElfresh v. Kirkendall, 36 Iowa, 226:”Debt” is not exactly synonymous with “duty.” A debt is a legal liability to pay a specific sum of money; a duty is a legal obligation to perform some act Allen v. Dickson, Minor (Ala.) 120.
In practice. The name of a common law action, which lies to recover a certain specific sum of money, or a sum that can readily be reduced to a certainty. 3 Bl. Comm. 154; 3 Steph. Comm. 461; 1 Tidd. Pr. 3.
It is said to lie In the debet and detinet, (when it is stated that the defendant owes and detains,) or in the detinet, (when it is stated merely that he detains.) Debt in the detinet for goods differs from detinue, because it is not essential in this action, as in detinue, that the specific property in the goods should have been vested in the plaintiff at the time the action is brought. Dyer, 246. Debt by simple contract. A debt or demand founded upon a verbal or implied contract or upon any written agreement that is not under seal. Debt by specialty. A debt due, or acknowledged to be due, by some deed or instrument under seal; as a deed of covenant or sale, a lease reserving rent, or a bond or obligation. 2 Bl. Comm. 465; Kerr v. Lydecker, 51 Ohio St. 240. 37 N. EL 207, 23 L. R. A. 842; Marriott v. Thompson, Willes, 180. Debt ex mutuo. A species of debt or obligation mentioned by Glanville and Bracton, jind which arose em mutuo, out of a certain kind of loan. Glan. lib. 10. c. 3; Bract, fol. 90. See MUTUUM ; Ex MUTUO. Debt of record. A debt which appears to be due by the evidence of a court of record, as by a judgment or recognizance. 2 Bl. Comm. 465. Legal debts. Those that are recoverable in a court of common law, as debt on a bill of exchange, a bond, or a simple contract. Rogers v. Daniell, 8 Allen (Mass.) 348; Guild v. Walter, 182 Mass. 225, 65 N. E. 68. Mutual debts. Money due on both sides between two persons. Passive debt. A debt upon which, by agreement between the debtor and creditor, no interest is payable, as distinguished from active debt;
6., a debt upon which interest is payable. In this sense, the terms “active” and ‘ passive” are applied to certain debts due from the Spanish government to Great Britain. Wharton. In another sense of the words, a debt is “active” or “passive” according as the person of the creditor or debtor is regarded; a passive debt being that which a man owes; an active debt that which is owing to him. In this meaning every debt is both active and passive,active as regards the creditor, passive as regards the debtor. Public debt. That which is due or owing by the government of a state or nation. The terms “public debt” and “public securities,” used in legislation, are terms generally applied to national or state obligations and dues, and would rarely, If ever, be construed to include town debts or obligations; nor would the term “public revenue” ordinarily be applied to funds arising from town taxes. Morgan v. Cree, 46 Vt 773, 14 Am. Rep. 640. Pure debt. In Scotch law. A debt due now and unconditionally is so called. It is thus distinguished from a future debt, payable at a fixed day in the ofuture, and a contingent debt, which will only become due upon the happening of a certain contingency. Simple contract debt. One where the contract upon which the obligation arises is neither ascertained by matter of record nor yet by deed or special instrument, but by mere oral evidence the most simple of any, or by notes unsealed, which are capable of a more easy proof, and therefore only better than a verbal promise. 2 Bl. Comm. 466.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
(A) contracts. A sum of money due by certain and express agreement. 3 Bl. Com. 154. In a less technical sense, as in the act to regulate arbitrations and proceedings in courts of justice of Pennsylvania, passed the 21st of March, 1806, s. 5, it means an claim for money. In a still more enlarged sense, it denotes any kind of a just demand; as, the debts of a bankrupt. 4 S. & R. 506. 2. Debts arise or are proved by matter of record, as judgment debts; by bonds or specialties; and by simple contracts, where the quantity is fixed and specific, and does not depend upon any future valuation to settle it. 3 Bl. Com. 154; 2 Hill. R. 220. 3. According to the civilians, debts are divided into active and passive. By the former is meant what is due to us, by the latter, what we owe. By liquid debt, they understand one, the payment of which may be immediately enforced, and not one which is due at a future time, or is subject to a condition; by hypothecary debt is meant, one which is a lien over an estate and a doubtful debt, is one the payment of which is uncertain. Clef des Lois Rom. h. t. 4. Debts are discharged in various ways, but principally by payment. See Accord and Satisfaction; Bankruptcy; Confusion Compensation; Delegation; -Defeasance; Discharge of a contract; Extinction; Extinguishment; Former recovery; Lapse of time; Novation; Payment; Release; Rescission; Set off. 5. In payment of debts, some are to be paid before others, in cases of insolvent estates first, in consequence of the character of the creditor, as debts due to the United States are generally to be first paid; and secondly, in consequence of the nature of the debt, as funeral expenses and servants’ wages, which are generally paid in preference to other debts. See Preference; Privilege; Priority. (B) remedies. The name of an action used for the recovery of a debt eo nomine and in numero though damages are generally awarded for the detention of the debt; these are, however, in most instances, merely nominal. 2. The subject will be considered with reference, 1. To the kind of claim or obligation on which this action may be maintained. 2. The form of the declaration. 3. The plea. 4. The judgment. 3. Section 1. Debt is a more extensive remedy for the recovery of money than assumpsit or covenant, for it lies to recover money due upon legal liabilities, as, for money lent, paid, had and received, due on an account stated; Com. Dig. Dett, A; for work and labor, or for the price of goods, and a quantum valebant thereon; Com. Dig. Dett, B Holt, 206; or upon simple contracts, express or implied, whether verbal or written, or upon contracts under seal, or of record, or by a common informer, whenever the demand for a sum is certain, or is capable of being reduced to certainty. Bull. N. P. 167. It also lies to recover money due on, any specialty or contract under seal to pay money. This action lies on a record, or upon a judgment of a court of record; Debt also lies, in the detinet, for goods; which action differs from detinue, because it is not essential in this action, as in detinue, that the property in any specific goods should be vested in the plaintiff, at the time the action is brought; Dy. 24 b; and debt in the debet and detinet may be maintained on an instrument by which the defendant is bound to pay a sum of money lent, which might have been discharged, on or before the day of payment, in articles of merchandise. 4. Section 2. When the action is on a simple contract, the declaration must show the consideration of the contract, precisely as in assumpsit; and it should state either a legal liability or an express agreement, though not a promise to pay the debt. When the action is founded on a specialty or record, no consideration need be shown, unless the performance of the consideration constitutes a condition precedent, when performance of such consideration must be averred. When the action is founded on a deed, it must be declared upon, except in the case of debt for rent. 5. Section 3. The plea to an action of debt is either general or special. 1. The plea of general issue to debt on simple contracts, or on statutes, or when the deed is only matter of inducement, is nil debet. See Nil debet. In general, when the action is on a specialty, the plea denying the existence of the contract is non est factum.