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Estoppel: It's not a stop sign in Bosnia or a cork in a bottle of Italian Wine (A whimsical article)

Lord Coke, the noted English jurist once wrote, "'Estoppe' commeth of the French word estoupe, from whence the English word stopped: and it is called an estoppel or conclusion, because a man's own act or acceptance stoppeth or closeth up his mouth to allege or plead the truth." Great, but what does that mean? Well, "estoppel" is a legal doctrine that will, under the right circumstances, forbid you from telling the truth! That may seem quite surprising in a court system that takes great pains to ensure that litigants tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." But, sometimes the truth would be unjust, and that is when estoppel takes effect.

If you lie about a fact, and another party believes your lie, relies on it, and is harmed as a result, the court will treat your lie as the truth. You won't be allowed to go back and claim that your statement was false; you will be "estopped" from denying the truth of your statement. This principle applies not just to speech, but also to conduct that leaves a false impression.

Estoppel can take effect in almost any kind of legal dispute, but it is most common in contract and real estate litigation, as well as disputes over agency (see article on Apparent Authority). For example: Able mistakenly identifies the boundary line between her property and Baker's property. Relying on Able's statement, Baker builds a sundeck, which now encroaches on Able's property. Able will be estopped, and will be unable to get an injunction to prevent Baker from building the sundeck. (Able will still be able to recover for the value of the lost land, but Baker will now own it.)

So be careful, or you may be estopped.