The Collaborative International Dictionary
Constructive \Con*struct"ive\, a. [Cf. F. constructif.]
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Having ability to construct or form; employed in construction; as, to exhibit constructive power.
The constructive fingers of Watts.
--Emerson. Derived from, or depending on, construction, inference, or interpretation; not directly expressed, but inferred.
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helpful; promoting improvement; intended to help; as, constructive criticism; constructive suggestions. Contrasted with destructive.
Constructive crimes (Law), acts having effects analogous to those of some statutory or common law crimes; as, constructive treason. Constructive crimes are no longer recognized by the courts.
Constructive notice, notice imputed by construction of law.
Constructive trust, a trust which may be assumed to exist, though no actual mention of it be made.
Wiktionary
n. A trust created by operation of law where one party takes physical possession of property, but is legally required to use that property for the benefit of another party, in the absence of a written agreement.
WordNet
n. a trust created by a court (regardless of the intent of the parties) to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights [syn: involuntary trust]
Wikipedia
A constructive trust is an equitable remedy resembling a trust ( implied trust) imposed by a court to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legal property right which they should not possess due to unjust enrichment or interference.
Usage examples of "constructive trust".
Patrick Green, indeed, brought face to face with a stark choice between a sentence for conversion, civil theft and breach of constructive trust, followed by the automatic revocation of his licence to practise law - between that and the repaying of some at least of what he'd embezzled from Jules Harlow and Mrs Nutbridge, had discovered all of a sudden that there were dollars to be earned in the outside world, even if it meant stocking supermarket shelves.
Down here for instance, whether the profits from showing it outside the United States should be included, the court holds that the plaintiff, you the plaintiff, had an equitable interest in the negatives the minute they were made in this country where it was a tort so the law impresses them with a constructive trust.