Enjoyment, in a legal context, has several related meanings; but generally, it means “to exercise a right.” Some common uses of the term “enjoyment” in a legal sense include:
- In the context of estate tax statutes, cases such as this one from the Ninth Circuit, explain that enjoyment means “substantial present economic benefit rather than technical vesting of titles or estates.”
- In the context of enjoyment of property, cases such as this one from Kansas, explain that “a tenants right to quiet enjoyment of a property means that a tenant has possession of the property and is free to come and go from the property without the landlord’s interference.”
- In cases such as this one, the courts have explained that the term “enjoyment” connotes “consolation, contentment, ease, happiness, pleasure and satisfaction.”
See also: Quiet enjoyment
[Last updated in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]