legal maxim

The maxim of Accessorium non ducit sed sequitur suum principale is a Latin phrase which literally means the accessory follows the principal. The phrase basically means that an accessory thing does not lead the principal, but follows it. If the existence of the principal right is in danger, the accessory shall be extinguished with it too. We cannot retain the accessory right, once we have lost the principal one. This maxim applies to corporeal things and non-corporeal ones alike, meaning the rights related to the property and the property alike. There are many rights which are given to us by the law, but not all of them follow the principal right. The Doctrine of Accession is based on this maxim. This says that if a right is conferred on the original owner of a property, the person who gets the property later will also have those rights on him.

Joseph Parker Camp, Appt. v. Kate Willard Boyd

In this case, the Trustee, made a deed transferring the ground rent on Daughterty and Forthy leases. The Court observed applied the maxim of Accessorium non ducit sed sequitur suum principale and held that when there is a grant for reversion of the property, the rights of the ground rent pass on along with it, but it is not the same the other way round. The deed transferring the ground rent does not make the reversion pass on too. The grant for reversion is the principal right, while the transfer of rent is the accessory right.