ABATEMENT

generally, a lessening or reduction; also, either a termination or a temporary suspension of a lawsuit. An ABATEMENT OF LEGACY means that the legacy to a beneficiary is either reduced or completely eliminated because of debts that must first be paid out of the decedent's estate. An ABATEMENT OF TAXES is a tax rebate or decrease.

See nuisance [ABATEMENT OF A NUISANCE]. Source: Barron's Dictionary of Legal Terms, Steven H. Gifis, 5th Edition; © 2016

"Under section 760.11(4)(a), an aggrieved person may not bring a civil action unless (a) the commission has made an affirmative determination of "reasonable cause to believe that a discriminatory practice ha[s] occurred," or (b) under section 760.11(8), the commission has failed to act on the complaint for 180 days. The former did not occur and the plaintiff made it impossible for the latter to take place because the very act of filing the complaint served to "divest the commission of jurisdiction" to proceed. § 760.11(5). For that reason, although we might desire to do so, we cannot apply the rule that a premature action should not be dismissed, but rather abated until the appropriate time has run."

- Sweeney v. FPL, 725 So.2d 380 (3DCA 1998