Assignment. in the law of England, is the name given to a conveyance by which the party making the assignment transfers or grants over a right not in possession, such as a bond, a debt, or other Chose in action (q.v.). In England, according to the strict rule of the old common law, no such right could be assigned or granted over, because such a proceeding was thought to be an encouragement to litigation. The only exception to this general rule was in the case of the crown, which might always either grant or receive a chose in action by assignment. Now, however, the proceeding is in constant practice. The courts of equity used to make the rule itself give way to the expediency of facilitating the transfer of property by directly sanctioning the practice; and even in those of common law the application of the ancient principle was evaded. The Judicature Act, 1873, provides for the assignment of choses in action by writing; notice of the assignment must be given to the debtor. Mortgages may be assigned; indeed the right to make such a transfer is one of the properties of a mortgage security. Assignment is also the proper mode of assurance or conveyance for passing estates in reversion; and for passing leasehold estates for years, and other chattel property. The Statute of Frauds requires the assignment of a lease, or of a trust, to be made in writing; and the Real Property Amendment Act, 1845, provides that the assignment of a chattel interest in land (not being copyhold) shall be made by deed, unless the interest is one which might by law have been created without writing (as, for example, a lease for less than three years at a rack-rent). Copyright is assignable; indeed, by the 5 and 6 Vict. chap. 45, sect. 3, copyright is expressly given to the author and his assigns; but it is not required, like a patent right, to be in every case under the seal of the proprietor, it being enacted by section 13 of the same act that an assignment properly entered in the book of registry at Stationers' Hall shall be as effectual as if made by deed.
In regard to the right of assignment generally, it may be laid down that the property in things personal is transferable with absolute freedom; and if they are assigned under a condition which is either repugnant to the gift itself, or against the policy of the law—such as a prohibition to dispose of the property assigned—the condition is void. There are some cases, however, where the right of alienation is, in respect of the incapacity of the owner, suspended; as to which it will be sufficient to remark that the law with respect to the disability of infants, insane persons, and persons under duress, applies in general to personal as well as to real property. A married woman, too, was at common law under an absolute incapacity to make any transfer of things personal; with the exception of her equitable interest in property settled in trust expressly for her separate use, the goods and chattels which she possessed at the time of marriage, or subsequently acquired, belonged, by the general rule of law, to her husband. But the Married Women's Property Acts have given to married women almost all the rights of disposition enjoyed by single women. There are also some few cases where, in respect of the nature of the interest itself, its alienation is absolutely prohibited. Thus, generally, the pay or half-pay of a military or naval officer, or the salary of an office of trust, is, on a principle of public policy, not assignable, the object being to secure to such persons, even against their own improvidence, the possession of those means which are essential to the maintenance of their station and the performance of their duties. The sale or transfer of public appointments themselves is also, in general, contrary to the policy of the law, and in most cases expressly prohibited. See Stephen's Commentaries, Book II. chap. iv.
An assignment of goods and chattels is frequently made by a Bill of Sale (q.v.). Bills of Exchange (q.v.) and Promissory Notes (q.v.) are assigned by indorsement.
The corresponding term in the Scotch law is Assignment (q.v.). But in that system, assignment is the legal and technical word for the transfer of property in copyrights, patents, and registered vessels.
In the United States, assignment is of broader signification; it applies also to the transfer of real property by certain conveyance. In general, every right of property, real or personal, and every demand connected with a right of property, real or personal; and all choises in action, as bonds, notes, judgments, mortgages, debts, contracts, agreements, relating both to real and personal property, are assignable, and the assignment thereof will pass to the assignee a right of action in the name of such assignee against all parties liable to an action. Assignment carries with it all collateral securities held by the assignor for the collection of a debt or the fulfilment of a contract, and is subject to all the equities and charges which attached in the hands of the assignor. A personal trust, as the right of a master in his indentured apprentice, or the duties of a testamentary guardian, or the office of executor, trustee, &c., is not assignable. The validity of an assignment must be determined by the law of the state in which it was made, provided the thing assigned is subject of municipal or state law; but copyrights, patents, and government claims are governed by acts of congress. In general, assignments should be recorded in the office prescribed by law, or are void as against those claiming under subsequent assignments.