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WILLFUL Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

Proceeding from a conscious motion of the will; intending the result which actually conies to pass ; designed; intentional; malicious.A willful differs essentially from a negligent act. The one is positive and the other negative. Intention is always separated from negligence by a precise line of demarcation. Sturm v. Atlantic Mut. ins. Co., 38 N. Y. Super. Ct. 317. In common parlance, “willful” is used in the sense of “intentional,” as distinguished from “accidental” or “involuntary.” But language of a statute affixing a punishment to acts done willfully may be restricted to such acts done with an unlawful intent. U.S. v. Boyd (C. C.) 45 Fed. 855; State v. Clark, 29 N. J. Law, 90.

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