Res Perit Domino

The thing is lost to the owner. This phrase is used to express that when a thing is lost or destroyed, it is lost to the person who was the owner of it at the time. For example, an article is sold; if the seller have perfected the title of the buyer so that it is his, and it be destroyed, it is the buyer's loss; but if, on the contrary, something remains to be done before the title becomes vested in the buyer, then the loss falls on the seller.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.