Legal Definitions - antecedent claim

An antecedent claim is a claim that existed before a particular event or transaction. In legal terms, it refers to a preexisting claim that can be used to support a legal action or transaction.

For example, if a person owes money to a creditor, the creditor has an antecedent claim against that person. If the person then offers to give the creditor a piece of property as payment, the creditor can take the property for the antecedent claim.

Another example is in the context of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Under the UCC, a holder of a financial instrument, such as a check or promissory note, is considered to have taken it for value if it is taken for an antecedent claim. This means that if a person owes money to someone and gives them a check to pay off the debt, the recipient of the check can be considered a holder for value because they took the check for the antecedent claim.