Ostensible Authority Legal Meaning and Definition

Here is a simplified definition of the legal term Ostensible Authority.

Ostensible Authority (Noun)

An apparent permission that allows a person or entity to act or make decisions on behalf of another individual or corporation, even though there may not be any actual, legally established authority present. This typically arises when one person (the principal) behaves in a way that leads a third party to reasonably believe that another person (the agent) has such authority, whether or not the agent actually does.