Legal Dictionary

act of God

Legal Definition of act of God

Noun

An event which is caused solely by the effect of nature of natural causes and without any interference by humans whatsoever.

Example: Insurance contracts often exclude "act of God" from the list of insurable occurrences as means to waive their obligations for damage caused by hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, all examples of "act of God".

Noun

act of God (plural acts of God)

(law) an unforeseen occurrence beyond one's control, such as a natural disaster

Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. This does not protect those who put others in danger of acts of nature through negligence, such as an adult who instructs a group of children to unbuckle their seat belts so they can be "thrown clear" of an accident

References:

Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.