relation back doctrine

relation back doctrine

(1) The principle that something done today will be treated as if it were done earlier.A document held in escrow and then delivered later will be treated as if delivered when it was put into escrow.This is not because the escrowee is the agent of the person receiving delivery, but because of the doctrine of relation back. This is an important distinction when someone dies after escrow, but before delivery, because agencies are automatically terminated upon death.
(2) Some jurisdictions follow a relation back doctrine regarding lawsuits, so that if the plaintiff sues the defendant on a breach of contract claim for some transaction between the parties (normally a 4- to 6-year statute of limitations) and the defendant has negligence claims against the plaintiff arising out of the same transaction (normally a 1- to 2-year statute of limitations),then the defendant may assert his or her claims even though the time limit may have otherwise expired.