Legal Instrument Law and Legal Definition
A legal instrument is a formally executed written document. A legal instrument states some contractual relationship or grants some right. It formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right. Additionally, a legal instrument evidences the act and the process of preparing a legal instrument or an agreement. For example, bonds and mortgages. A legal instrument secures a legal right.
In Reed, Wible & Brown, Inc. v. Mahogany Run Development Corp., 550 F. Supp. 1095 (D.V.I. 1982), the court held “to execute a legal instrument means to perform what is required to give validity to it. A contract is executed by being signed, and not by being adopted, and the signature is a part of its execution.”
