vested rights
Legally secured interests
Vested rights are legal entitlements that cannot be revoked or taken away without the holder's consent.
Once a right has vested, it belongs absolutely to its holder—a pension that vests after ten years of service, a property interest that survives changes in zoning law.
The term appears most often in employment benefits, real estate, and constitutional law: Her stock options vest over four years.
The opposite of vested is contingent, meaning the right depends on conditions not yet met.
- title deedDocument proving property ownership
- grandfather clauseExemption preserving prior status
- prior approvalPermission sought beforehand
- legal protectionRights enforceable by law
- easementLimited land-use privilege
pension plan · pension benefits · entitlement · contractual obligation · irrevocable · due process · severance pay · golden parachute · administrative law · nonforfeitable · ERISA · vesting period · zoning laws · usufruct · land use · inheritance · equity · tenure
- conflict of lawsapplicable law, characterization, characterisation, comity, escape clauses
- pensionspension, pension fund, pension plan, pension benefits, pension funds
- legal timingretroactivity, effective date, sunset clause, ex post facto, statute of limitations
- tenureacademic tenure, faculty tenure, teacher tenure, tenure track, tenure review