Abandonment

contracts.— In insurances the act by which the insured relinquishes to the assurer all the property to the thing insured. No particular form is required for an abandonment, nor need it be in writing; but it must be explicit and absolute, and must set forth the reasons upon which it is founded. It must also be made in reasonable time after the loss. It is not in every case of loss that the insured can abandon. In the following cases an abandonment may be made; when there is a total loss; when the voyage is lost or not worth pursuing, by reason of a peril insured against; or if the cargo be so damaged as to be of little or no value; or where the salvage is very high, and further expense be necessary, and the insurer will not engage to bear it; or if what is saved is of less value than the freight; or where the damage exceeds one-half of the value of the goods insured; or where the property is captured, or even detained by an indefinite embargo, and in cases of a like nature. The abandonment, when legally made, transfers from the insured to the insurer the property in the thing insured, contract of insurance. 3 Kent Com. 265; 2 Marsh. Ins. 559; Pard. Dr. Com. n. 836 et seq. Boulay Paty, Dr. Com. Maritime, tit. 11, tom. 4, p. 215.