Abatement. This is a term used in various senses in the law of England. (1) Abatement of Freehold, where a stranger without right enters and gets possession before the heir or devisee. (2) Abatement of Nuisance, which means the act of a party in removing, with the least possible damage, any nuisance or unlawful obstruction from his property. (3) Abatement of Actions formerly took place by the death, marriage, or bankruptcy of a party; but under the Judicature Act the action proceeds, the necessary parties being added, except where the right of action does not transmit. Pleas in abatement are those known in Scotland as 'no title to sue,' and 'all parties not called,' and are now dealt with in the same way. The term is also used in both England and Scotland to denote the reduction of legacies where the estate is insufficient to pay in full. Abatement, or rebate, is the discount allowed for cash, or paid on a bill, and is also used for a deduction sometimes made by the Customs House on damaged goods, or for loss in warehouses.
Abatement is also a reduction of a legacy, general or specific, on account of the insufficiency of the estate of the testator to pay his debts and legacies.
In the United States courts, by act of congress, personal actions do not abate by death of a party, if the cause of action survives. Unlike the abatement of a suit at common law, the death of one of the parties to a bill in equity before final decree has the effect of suspending the proceeding, but does not extinguish the right of further prosecution, by representatives, within a reasonable time.