Abandonment

Abandonment. (1) Marine Insurance. The relinquishment of all claim on the part of a person who has insured a ship or goods to any portion of the same which may be saved. The person claiming compensation must give notice of his intention to abandon within a reasonable time after receiving information of the loss, any unnecessary delay being taken as an indication of his intention not to abandon. (2) Scottish Legal Procedure. The signification by the pursuer (or plaintiff) of his intention to withdraw from the case. This may be done at any stage before final judgment is delivered, the pursuer having to pay all costs incurred; he is, however, entitled to bring another action on the same ground. (3) Abandonment is also used in reference to the exposure and abandonment of infants or children under two years of age. When a child is abandoned, so that its life is endangered or its health likely to be permanently affected, the person abandoning the child is liable to penal servitude. (4) The term has significance with reference to a trade-mark, as opposed to mere non-user.