What are legal fictions?

Legal fictions are made-up stories that help law work better in real life.

Imagine you have a toy box full of different toys, cars, blocks, and dolls. Now imagine the rules for playing say that all the toys must be treated like cars. That might not make sense, but it helps keep things simple when you're deciding who wins the race or how many turns each player gets.

Sometimes, legal fictions are like giving a superhero special powers in a story, even if they don’t really have them. For example, when two people start a business together, the law might pretend that their business is one person instead of two. This makes it easier to decide who gets what if the business goes wrong.

It's like pretending your pet dog can write checks, not because dogs can write checks, but because it helps you keep track of money in a fun and simple way.