subrogare

Subrogare is a Latin verb meaning to substitute or to place in the position of another, often by transferring rights or obligations from one party to another. In legal usage, the related noun subrogation (subrogatio) denotes the act by which one person (the subrogee) acquires the rights of another (the subrogor) in order to enforce a claim or recover a debt, without necessarily extinguishing the original obligation.

Subrogation is a fundamental concept in civil law and is used in various legal fields, most prominently in insurance, suretyship, and mortgage transactions. In insurance, for example, when an insurer pays a claim, it is typically subrogated to the insured’s rights against the party responsible for the loss, enabling recovery from that third party. In suretyship, a payer may be subrogated to the creditor’s rights against the debtor or against third parties who share liability. In mortgage or guaranteed loans, a lender that satisfies the debt may be subrogated to the rights of the original creditor to pursue recovery.

Roman law laid early groundwork for subrogation, allowing substitution of creditors or other rights without dissolving the underlying obligation. Modern codifications distinguish legal subrogation (created by operation of law) from conventional or contractual subrogation (established by agreement). Subrogation is also frequently contrasted with novation, which substitutes a new contract or obligation that extinguishes the old one; subrogation, by contrast, transfers rights while leaving the original arrangement largely intact.

See also: subrogation, assignment, novation.