Legal Definitions - indicavit

Definition: Indicavit (in-di-kay-vit) is a legal term that means "he has indicated." It refers to a writ of prohibition used by a church patron to remove an ecclesiastical-court action between two clerics who dispute each other's right to a benefice to a common-law court.

Example: In the past, actions concerning clerics' rights to a benefice were usually tried in ecclesiastical courts. However, if the action involved a church patron in some way, such as when one cleric was appointed by a certain patron and the other cleric was appointed by another patron, the action could be removed to a common-law court using the writ of indicavit.

Explanation: The example illustrates how the writ of indicavit was used to remove an ecclesiastical-court action to a common-law court. If two clerics disputed each other's right to a benefice, the action would usually be tried in an ecclesiastical court. However, if the action involved a church patron, the church patron could use the writ of indicavit to remove the action to a common-law court. This allowed the church patron to have more control over the outcome of the case.