Expectancy

A mere hope, based upon no direct provision, promise, or trust. An expectancy is the possibility of receiving a thing, rather than having a vested interest in it.

The term has been applied to situations where an individual hopes and expects to receive something, generally property or money, but has no founded assurance of possession. A person named in a will as an heir has only an expectancy to inherit under the will, since there exists a possibility that the will may be altered so as to disinherit him or her.

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expectancy n. a possibility of future enjoyment of something one counts on receiving, usually referring to real property or the estate of a deceased person, such as a remainder, reversion, or distribution after the death of someone who has use for life. (See: remainder, reversion, distribution)

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EXPECTANCY, estates. Having a relation to or dependence upon something future.
     2. Estates are of two sorts, either in possession, sometimes called estates executed; or in expectancy, which are executory. Expectancies are, first, created by the parties, called a remainder; or by act of law, called a reversion.
     3. A bargain in relation to an expectancy is, in general, considered invalid. 2 Ves. 157; Sel. Cas. in Ch. 8; 1 Bro. C. C. 10; Jer. Eq. Jur. 397.