What is "expectative"

Expectative \Ex*pect"a*tive\, a. [Cf. F. expectatif.] Constituting an object of expectation; contingent.

Expectative grace, a mandate given by the pope or a prince appointing a successor to any benefice before it becomes vacant.
--Foxe.

Expectative \Ex*pect"a*tive\, n. [F. expectative, fr. expectatif expectant.] Something in expectation; esp., an expectative grace.
--Milman.

a. 1 Of or pertaining to an expectation 2 (context canon law English) Of or pertaining to the reversion of a benefice

In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, an expectative, or an expectative grace (from the Latin expectare, to expect or wait for), is the anticipatory grant of an ecclesiastical benefice, not vacant at the moment but which will become so, regularly, on the death of its present incumbent.