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Most Popular Legal Definitions
ipso facto
from Latin meaning "by fact itself," taken to mean that a consequence came as a
result of a specific action
life tenant
The beneficiary of a life estate.
after-acquired property
1) personal or real property acquired by a debtor after he or she has agreed
that all his or her property secured a debt; the new property also becomes
security for the debt 2) property acquired by the bankrupt person after he or
she has filed papers to be declared bankrupt; this after-acquired property is
not included in the assets which may be used to any debts which existed at the
time of the bankruptcy filing
privileged will
A will valid in spite of defect of form when
made by mariners or soldiers.
waste
The abuse, destruction or permanent change to a property by one who is merely in
possession of it as in the case of a tenant.
probation
A punishment given out as part of a sentence
which means that instead of jailing a person convicted of a crime, a judge will
order that the person reports to a probation officer regularly.
pleadings
The document of a party to litigation in which
they formally set out the facts and the laws that support each sides
position.
battery
the intentional striking of someone, with intent to harm, or in a "rude and
insolent manner," even if the injury is slight; negligent or careless
unintentional contact is not battery no matter how great the harm; battery is a
crime and also the basis for a lawsuit as a civil wrong if there is damage
avulsion
the change in the border of two properties due to a sudden change in the natural
course of a stream or river, when the border is defined by the channel of the
waterway; the most famous American case is the Mississippi River's change which
put Vicksburg on the other side of the river
blue sky laws
laws intended to protect the public from purchasing stock in fraudulent
companies that lack substance, such as those selling swamp land, non-existent
gold strikes and dry oil wells, or who have no assets besides a post office box