Vadium Mortuum Law and Legal Definition
In Latin Law, Vadium Mortuum refers to a Dead pledge or a mortgage. It is a security given by the borrower of a sum of money, by which he grants to the lender an estate in fee, on condition that if the money were not repaid at the specified time, the pledged estate shall continue to the lender. This was considered a “dead pledge” because as far as the borrower is concerned, it would be dead or gone from the borrower or mortgagor. Vadium Mortuum is also known as Mortuum Vadium.
