(verb) – To glide; to pass slowly, silently, or by degrees. To slip; to deviate from the proper path. Webster. To fail or fall. Lapse patent. A patent for land issued is substitution for an earlier patent to the same land, which was issued to another party, but has lapsed in consequence of his neglect to avail himself of it. Lapsed devise. See DEVISE. Lapsed legacy. See LEGACY.
(noun) – In ecclesiastical law. The transfer, by forfeiture, of a right to present or collate to a vacant benefice from a person Vested, with such right to another, in consequence of some act of negligence by the former. Ayl. Par. 331.
In the law of wills. The failure of a testamentary gift in consequence of the death of the devisee or legatee during the life of the testator.
Used in will practice, it is the failure of a gift of property, for example, a gift made to a beneficiary who dies before the will and no alternate beneficiary is named in the will. A lapsed gift becomes part of the residuary estate although some states have anti-lapse laws.
In criminal proceedings, “lapse” is used, In England, in the same sense as “abate” in ordinary procedure; i.e., to signify that the proceedings came to an end by the death of one of the parties or some other event.