Legal Definitions - determinate obligation

Definition: A legal or moral duty to do or not do something that has a specific thing as its object. It is a formal, binding agreement or acknowledgment of a liability to pay a certain amount or to do a certain thing for a particular person or set of persons.

Examples: An obligation to deliver a specific book, such as the 1491 Venice edition of Vocabularium Iuris that once belonged to H.L.A. Hart, is a determinate obligation. Another example is a loan agreement that requires payment of four loan installments and delivery of a deed of trust. Each loan installment and the deed's delivery is a separate, enforceable performance.

Explanation: A determinate obligation is one that has a specific object, such as a particular book or a specific performance. It cannot be satisfied by delivering something else or performing a different action. The examples illustrate how a determinate obligation requires a specific performance or delivery, and cannot be satisfied by anything else.