Where truth is, fiction of law does not exist.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) A legal fiction cannot survive where the truth has been established — once the actual facts are proved, the fiction is extinguished and reality governs.

Where this applies

• A man was presumed dead after being missing for seven years, but then he reappears alive — the legal fiction of death is immediately extinguished because the truth is now known.
• A corporation was treated as a separate legal person, but evidence proves it was a mere shell used to defraud creditors — the court pierces the corporate veil because the fiction cannot stand against the proven truth.
• An adopted child was legally treated as the biological child of the adoptive parents, but when a medical history is needed, the court acknowledges the biological parentage because the medical truth overrides the legal fiction.