Legal Definitions - successor

A successor is a person or entity that takes over the position, rights, responsibilities, or place of another. This can happen in various situations, such as:

• When a new president is elected, they become the successor of the previous president.
• When a company merges with another company, the resulting corporation becomes the successor of the original companies.
• When a person inherits property, they become the successor of the previous owner.

There are different types of successors, including:

• Particular successor: One who succeeds to rights and obligations that pertain only to the property conveyed.
• Singular successor: One who succeeds to a former owner's rights in a single piece of property.
• Statutory successor: One who succeeds to the assets of a corporation upon its dissolution according to the statute of the state of incorporation applicable at the time of the dissolution.
• Universal successor: One who succeeds to all the rights and powers of a former owner, as with an intestate estate or an estate in bankruptcy.

For example, if a person inherits a house from their deceased parent, they become the particular successor of that property. If a company goes bankrupt and its assets are distributed to its shareholders, the shareholders become the statutory successors of the company's assets. If a person is appointed as the executor of an estate, they become the universal successor of the deceased person's assets and liabilities.