From nothing nothing comes.

Explanation

A right, title, or obligation cannot be built upon a nullity — if the foundational act, instrument, or authority is void, everything that purports to derive from it falls with it.

Where this applies

• A company claims ownership of a patent based on an assignment that was itself forged, and the court voids the patent because a right built on a nullity is itself a nullity.
• A deed traces its chain of title back to a grant that was never validly executed, and the court holds that every subsequent conveyance in the chain fails because nothing can come from nothing.
• A government office was created by an unconstitutional statute, and the court holds that all orders issued by that office are void because authority derived from a void source has no existence.