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Glossary of Legal TermsA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary. If the term you are looking for starts with a digit or symbol, choose the '#' link. - A -ABSOLUTE DIVORCE: the final ending of a marriage. Both parties are legally free to remarry. AB INITIO: Latin for "from the beginning." ACTION: a lawsuit or proceeding in a court of law. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICE: this is a document which confirms that another document, such as a summons, writ or other procedural document has been served by one party to a legal action on the other party. Often it will incorporate an indication that the receiving party intends to contest the issues contained in the original document. ADVERSE POSSESSION: this is where someone gains rights over or title to land owned by another person by reason of their continued use of the right or land. Sometimes known as "squatters rights", adverse possession takes two principal forms - the acquisition of a right such as a right of way, or the acquisition of an actual title to the land itself. To achieve a title to the land (known as a "possessory title") the occupier must openly occupy the land in question without complaint from the owner for a period of time, usually 12 years. ADMINISTRATOR OF AN ESTATE: The person who manages the distribution of an estate is called an executor if there is a Will. If there is no Will, the person is called the administrator. AFFIDAVIT: a written statement under oath. AGREEMENT: a verbal or written resolution of disputed issues. ANSWER: the written response to a complaint, petition, or motion. ALIMONY: a payment of support provided by one spouse to the other. ALIAS SUMMONS: another summons when the original is not served on the defendant. ANNULMENT: a marriage can be dissolved in a legal proceeding in which the marriage is declared void, as though it never took place. In the eyes of the law, the parties were never married. It is available only under certain limited circumstances. APPEAL: an appeal is where a party to a case seeks to question the judgment given in a lower court by taking it to a higher court who can, if they see fit, overturn or vary the original judgment. Back to Top- B -BENEFICIARY: a person who benefits under the terms of a will or a trust.BEQUEST: a gift of property other than land usually by will. Back to Top- C -CASE LAW: the law of the US is essentially made up of two key elements - statutes, which are the legislative rules passed by Congress and State Legislatures and case law which is the interpretation of those rules by the courts and which can be binding upon courts deciding upon similar matters in the future. Case law can be many hundreds of years old and still relied upon if the point of law which the case decided was an important one, or it can be overturned almost immediately if a higher court believes that it reflects an incorrect conclusion.CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES: Maryland has child support guidelines which must be followed in awarding child support. The guidelines are a formula. There is a worksheet which each side must fill out. The court will review the figures on the worksheet and apply the guidelines. There are only a few circumstances when the court can award child support higher or lower than the guidelines. See the Annotated Code of Maryland, Family Law Article, Sections 12-201 through 12-204. CODICIL: An amendment changing the terms of an existing valid Will. It must be signed and witnesses with the same formality as your Will. COLLUSION: an agreement between two or more persons that one of the parties brings false charges against the other. In a divorce case, the husband and wife may agree to use adultery as a ground in order to obtain a divorce more quickly, knowing full well that adultery was not committed. Collusion is illegal. COMPLAINANT: the one who files the suit, same as plaintiff. COMPLAINT: called a Bill of Complaint. The legal paper that starts a case. COMMON LAW MARRIAGE: a common law marriage comes about when a man and woman who are free to marry agree to live together as husband and wife without the formal ceremony. to be common law married, both spouses must have intended to be husband and wife. Maryland does not recognize common law marriages. CONDONATION: the act of forgiving one's spouse who has committed an act of wrongdoing that would constitute a ground for divorce. Condonation generally is proven by living and cohabiting with the spouse after learning that the wrongdoing was committed. It often is used as a defense to a divorce. CONSPIRACY: basically this is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime. Conspiracy is a crime in its own right and you can be convicted of conspiracy to commit a crime even though the crime itself was never actually committed. CONTEMPT OF COURT: a person is in contempt of court when they either disregard an order by a judge or act in such a way as to show disregard for the authority of the court. A person who is in contempt of the court and who does not put right the contempt or cease the activity causing the contempt, can be imprisoned. CONTRACT: put at its simplest, a contract is an agreement between two or more parties, either written or verbal, that one party will do one thing in return for the other party doing another. Thus, an agreement that one person will give another persons goods or provide services in return for the other person paying them money would be a contract, as would an agreement for one person to perform a task in return for another person performing another task. For there to be a contract there needs to be three essential features - an offer by one party and an acceptance of that offer by another party linked to the passing from one party to the other of a consideration (e.g. money) in return for the act or product. CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE: if a person is deemed to have contributed to their own injury then, even if a third party can be blamed for the injury, the person's own acts will be held to be partly responsible and may affect the level of damages a person would receive were the matter to proceed to court. CORROBORATIVE WITNESS: a person who testifies for you and backs up your story. If you are asking the court to grant a divorce, you must bring to the hearing a witness who can corroborate your grounds for divorce. CUSTODY-SOLE & JOINT: refers to the legal arrangements for whom a child will live with and how decisions about the child will be made. Custody has two parts: legal and physical. Legal custody is the decision-making part: physical custody refers to where the child lives on a regular basis. Generally, the parent the child does not live with will be allowed to have regular visits with the child. Parents can make any custodial arrangement that is in the best interest of their children. The standard for custody is "best interest of the child". Back to Top- D -DAMAGES: compensation paid by one person to another to recompense them for a loss they have suffered where they had a right not to be subject to such a loss. Thus if a person brings a court action for breach of contract the court may award that person damages, payable by the other person, if the case is upheld. DEFAMATION: defamation is an injury to a person's character or reputation such that a right thinking person would think less of the injured person as a result of the injurious act. For there to be a defamation, the person injured must be living. There are two types of defamation, libel which is a defamation which is written down and slander which is a spoken defamation. It is a defense to an action for defamation that the words said or written were true. DEFAULT: a party's failure to answer a complaint, motion, or petition.DEFENDANT: the person the case is brought against. DE MINIMIS: an abbreviation of a longer Latin phrase "de minimis non curat lex" which literally means the law is not concerned with trivial matters. The phrase is generally used as a way of categorizing that which is not worth litigating over. DISCOVERY: a way for getting information from the other side or other people. Examples of discovery are interrogatories (written questions) and depositions (questions which are usually in person and recorded). DISSOLUTION: a dissolution is the act of ending something, usually a company, partnership, marriage or joint venture, usually by order of a court. Back to Top- E -EASEMENT: an easement is a private (as opposed to public) right which one person has over the land of another person and which is enjoyed by the person in connection with their own ownership of land. Easements include rights of way, rights of light and rights of support. For there to be an easement there must be a "dominant tenement" (i.e. land which enjoys the benefit of the easement) and a "servient tenement" (i.e. land which is subject to the right). Normally the benefit of the easement will pass with the land so that if it is sold the new owner has the right to the benefit in question.ENCUMBRANCE: an encumbrance is a liability which attaches to property, both land and other property, and can include a lien (a right to retain possession) or a charge (a security which supports a debt, e.g. a mortgage). To sell something free from encumbrances means to warrant that no one else has a prior claim over it. EQUITY: the word "equity" has several meanings depending upon the context in which it is used. So far as most people are concerned, equity is the word which is applied to the value of a property after deduction of any outstanding charges or mortgages. To an investor, equity is the amount of capital which he or she has invested in a company or business venture and upon which any interest or dividend will be paid. The final meaning of equity is the most complex. Equity can also be a set of rules applied by the court which ensures that the strict application of the law does not lead to an unjust decision being reached. An example of equity being applied would be where a court prevents someone using the law as a means of cheating someone of something to which they would otherwise be entitled, or where a court prevents a breach of contract from being used to a person's benefit. ESCROW: escrow is a word used to denote that an agreement or contract has not come into effect or has been suspended, possibly until such time as a condition is satisfied. Often the document forming the agreement or the contract will be put into the hands of a third party with instructions as to when it can be released. That third party is known as an "escrow agent". Sometimes the word escrow is used to describe an account into which money is placed pending certain conditions having been satisfied. ESTATE: an estate, other than the meaning applied to a large tract of land, is any interest in land, sometimes known as real estate, or in the whole of the property owned by someone who has died. ESTOPPEL: estoppel is one of those complicated legal concepts designed to prevent an injustice being done by the strict application of law. If someone states that something is so and, in reliance upon that statement, another person acts in a particular way, possibly to their detriment, then the person who made the statement is prevented, or estopped, from denying the correctness of the statement which they originally made. EXCLUSION CLAUSE: an exclusion clause is a clause, often in a contract, which attempts to limit or exclude the liability of one of the parties to an agreement. They are mostly seen in public places, such as restaurants and places of entertainment, where there is an attempt to exclude liability for coats hung in a commonly used cloakroom, but they can also appear in documents where one party wants to prevent a particular set of circumstances from affecting the contract - for example a delivery company excluding liability for late delivery due to traffic problems. EXPERT WITNESS: an expert witness is a witness in a court case who is called because he has specific knowledge of a particular specialist field rather than having knowledge of the facts surrounding the case in question. Back to Top- F -FEE SIMPLE: although a very old legal term it is still often used to describe an estate in land which is a freehold interest. FILING: giving the clerk of Court your legal papers. FIRST INSTANCE: first instance is the term applied to a court in which a matter is first heard before it goes for appeal to a higher court. FORCE MAJEURE: if an event occurs which is outside of the control of the parties to an agreement, for example, then it is said to be a force majeure. Often it is used in contracts and allows one party not to be in breach of the contract if an event beyond the control of either party occurs - for example a storm at sea which prevents goods from being delivered by ship. FRANCHISE: franchises have become very popular over the past few years with the rapid growth of chain stores and restaurants. In essence a franchise is a license or right to use a brand, style, name or method of doing business or producing a product which is owned by another person. In return for a payment the franchisee is granted a franchise by the franchiser who retains the rights to whatever is the subject of the franchise and can even lay down strict rules as to how the franchise is exercised - for example how a logo will be displayed or how the inside of a shop will look. FREEHOLD: an absolute right to land is known as a freehold interest in the land - that is to say no one has a better right to the land in question. It is often known as a right in fee simple. Back to Top- G -GARNISHEE ORDER: when judgment is obtained against a debtor, the creditor does not always automatically get that which is owed to him or her. Sometimes the court has to make an order defining how payment will in reality be made. One such order is a garnishee order which instructs a third party who owes money to the debtor to pay that money direct to the first creditor.GOODWILL: rarely is such a high value placed on something which is so difficult to describe as occurs with the sale of goodwill. There are several different descriptions of goodwill but the most common is the value of the reputation which a business has gained through the act of trading. Thus, if you bought a store that had been trading for several years then it would have regular customers who would be likely to continue to use the shop even though its ownership had changed, whereas if you set up a new store you would need to attract customers away from existing stores to you. The method by which it is valued is complicated in the extreme - not surprising considering the abstract nature of the thing which is being valued. GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: the legal basis for a divorce; the law sets out specific reasons for a divorce which have to be proven before the court can grant a divorce. GUARDIAN: An adult appointed or selected to care for a minor child in the event no biological or adoptive (legal parent) of the child is able or wishes to do so. GUARANTEE: a guarantee is essentially a promise by one person to another that something either will or will not happen. A guarantee for a debt, for example, is a promise by one person (the guarantor) that if a party to a contract defaults in some way then the guarantor will for example pay a sum of money to the other party to the contract. The most common form of guarantee, however, is that given by the producer of goods, that those goods will continue to perform the function for which they were purchased for a certain period of time, failing which they will be replaced or the purchaser's money refunded. Back to Top- H -HABEAS CORPUS: ask any one for a legal phrase and the chances are this is the phrase they will come up with. It is the right, supposedly enshrined in American law, which prevents a person from being wrongfully imprisoned, and which means literally "you must have the body". The right which it encompasses is the right that no one may be imprisoned or restrained without, within a reasonable period of time, being brought before a lawful court to answer the charge for which the detention occurred. It is used to prevent people from being held as prisoners for too long by the authorities.HEARSAY: hearsay is the word used to describe the kind of evidence where one person is recounting to the court what they heard another person, who may not be present in the court, say or what they were told (but did not see themselves) that another person had done. Usually, hearsay evidence is held either not to be admissible or that if admissible, less weight is attached to it than to other more direct evidence. HEIRS: Persons who are entitled by law to inherit your estate if you don't leave a Will, or any person or institution named in your Will. Back to Top- I -IMPLIED TERM: in a contract or agreement, an implied term is one which is not actually written into the contract but nevertheless the parties to the contract will be expected to adhere to it. Implied terms can come from a number of sources, including a custom within a particular trade, a course of dealing between parties who have contracted on a number of occasions before or simply terms in other contracts which have been entered into before. However, the most common source of implied terms is statute law which may require that all contracts of a particular type take effect as if a particular term or clause had been included.INDEMNITY: an indemnity is a payment or compensation by one person to another to make up for a loss which the other has suffered. INDENTURE: an old legal term, an indenture is another word for a deed or even a contract such as for apprenticeship. The word comes from the Latin for "toothlike" and refer to the fact that originally it was a document which came in two parts and the toothed serrations or tear could be matched up to prove it was the same document. INJUNCTION: an injunction is an order of the court stopping someone from doing a particular act which is against the rights of another person. Injunctions can take many forms from an injunction preventing a husband from entering the matrimonial home to an injunction preventing the publication of something which could be deemed to libelous. It is contempt of court (see earlier) to act in breach of an injunction. INQUEST: an inquest is a formal enquiry by a court into the reasons for a person's death. It is presided over by a Coroner, who is an official (but not a judge) who acts in a quasi-judicial capacity in directing a jury as to the kind of decision which it should reach. Usually an inquest will be held where there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the person's death or where the cause of death is unknown. INSIDER DEALING: often in the news, insider dealing is where someone who has knowledge about a limited company's financial and trading position that is not known to the rest of the public (for example because they are employed by the company) buy and sell that company's securities and make a profit as a result. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: this is the term used to describe a number of different areas of property, including copyrights, patents and trademarks, all of which are capable of being owned but which do not necessarily exist in a tangible form. INTESTATE: a person is said to have died intestate if they have died without making a will or if there is property which they own to which their will does not apply. In such circumstances the courts will deal with a person estate according to the predefined rules of intestacy, designed to try and create a fair situation between respective beneficiaries. There is a list of relatives of the deceased who will benefit and in what proportions should there be no will. In the absence of any named relatives then the estate of the person will revert to the crown. Back to Top- J -JOINT TENANCY: a joint tenancy is not generally concerned with landlords and tenants but instead is a way in which two or more people can have an interest in land or real property, so that they own it jointly rather than in specific shares. If land is owned this way then they cannot deal with the property individually - they must act together - and if one of the joint tenants dies then their share passes to the other surviving joint tenants. The other way of holding land jointly is called tenancy in common (see later) and if a joint tenant wishes to create a tenancy in common then they must "sever" the joint tenancy by serving notice on the other joint tenant(s). JOINT VENTURE: a joint venture is where two or more persons (either individual people or companies) enter into an agreement to undertake a business venture for joint profit. The joint venture can be simply an agreement between the parties as to who does what, invests what and gets what at the end, or it can be an entirely new company set up for the specific purpose of pursuing the joint business. JUDGE: a judge is the person who presides over a court case. The judge will either determine the case and decide who should win or lose in a civil case or will direct the jury on those things it should consider in a criminal case. The judge is also responsible for deciding the type and severity of sentence which someone convicted of a crime should have imposed upon them and the extent of the damages in a civil case. A judge does not necessarily always hear cases in court and can hear cases privately (i.e. without the jury or the public present) in chambers. There are several different types of judge including district judges, recorders, masters, trial judges and Appellate Court Judges. JUDGMENT: a court's decision.JUDICIAL REVIEW: Judicial Review is an important part of public life since it makes the acts of those who run the country open to the independent scrutiny of the courts and helps to ensure that due process is followed and that powers are not abused. If a person in public office, a minister for example, has a power to do something and a decision is taken which those whom it affects believe to have been wrongly taken, then those affected by it can apply to the courts to have the decision reviewed to see whether the decision has been reached in a lawful manner and in accordance with any regulations which granted the power to make the decision. JURISDICTION: the authority of the court to hear a case. JURY: in a court case a jury is 12 people picked at random and whose job is to decide on the basis of the facts presented to them the outcome of a case - usually a criminal case but occasionally in defamation cases. They are not required to know anything about the case or the law relating to it - in fact such knowledge could render them ineligible to be a juror in the matter. They will be directed by the judge (see earlier) as to that law which they need to know and also on how they should interpret the information which they have heard. In the case of inquests there will only be 9 jurors. Back to Top- K -
Back to Top- L -LEASE: a lease can have a number of meanings. Sometimes it is the agreement entered into between the owner of land, a building or part of a building (the landlord) and the person who wishes to rent it from him (the tenant) and which sets out the terms of the occupation - rent, rights, extent of the property, etc. Also, it can be the name given to the actual document entered into between a landlord and a tenant. Alternatively, a lease can be an agreement by one person for the hire of goods or machinery from another person in return for the payment of a hire charge. LEGACY: a legacy is a gift in a will of money or personal property. LEGAL AID: where a person is unable to bear the costs of a legal action, whether or not commenced by them, then they may be eligible to have all or part of their costs paid for by the government by the by the legal services program in your community. LETTER BEFORE ACTION: a letter before action is a letter sent to someone informing them that unless they take certain steps (e.g. repay a debt, vacate land, cease a particular activity or return property) then legal proceedings will be commenced against them. LIBEL: a libel is a written defamation (see earlier). LICENSE: a license is a right granted to a person or company to exercise rights over or in connection with something owned by another. Thus, for example, a license could be granted to enter land, to use a trademark, to carry out a mechanical or chemical process or simply to use goods owned by another. The key feature of a license is that it is a right, usually limited by time to use something which continues to be owned by someone else, rather than the transfer to a person of the thing or the full rights to it. LIEN: a lien is the right to retain possession (but not ownership) of something until something else, such as a payment for work carried out to the thing, has been made. For example, if you took your watch to be repaired, the jeweler would have a lien over that watch until such time as you had paid the bill for the repair. LIFE INTEREST: a life interest is, as the name implies, an interest which a person has in something for the duration of their life. An example would be if you lived in a property with someone, that person might on their death, grant you a life interest in the property; that is to say you would be entitled to remain there for your life but could not sell the property nor leave it in your will to a third party. LIMITED DIVORCE: establishes certain legal responsibilities while the parties are separated but does not end the marriage. See Annotated Code of Maryland, Family Law Article, Section 7-102. LITIGATION: litigation is the process in which a person or company becomes involved when they go to court. Back to Top- M -MAGISTRATE: sometimes called a Justice of the Peace, a magistrate is a person appointed to judge minor cases or preliminary hearings in the magistrates' court. Sometimes unpaid and not legally qualified , they are invariably part-time and will often be a prominent member of their community.MARITAL PROPERTY: includes all property acquired during the marriage, even if it is not titled in both names, with some exceptions, See Annotated Code of Maryland, Family Law Article, Section 8-201(e) for definition and Sections 8-203 through 8-205 for how the court treats marital property. MASTER: hears cases like a judge. A master's decision is reviewed by a judge before becoming final. MEDIATION: just as litigation is the process of going to court to resolve a dispute, so mediation is the process by which cases are resolved without the parties needing to go to court. Mediation is becoming far more popular as a means of resolving disputes since it is invariably less confrontational, is often simpler and thus cheaper and has the added benefit of being able to be decided by whatever means the parties to the mediation agree between them. In commercial matters, in particular, it is often referred to as Alternative Dispute Resolution, or just ADR for short. MENS REA: Mens Rea is a phrase that you are most likely to hear in the criminal courts and means literally "guilty mind". Certain crimes require that a person intended to carry out the crime, and thus the prosecution would have to prove that there was mens rea at the time the offense was committed. MISREPRESENTATION: a misrepresentation occurs where someone is persuaded to enter into an agreement on the basis of facts which are false. Depending upon the extent and severity of the misrepresentation, the party who has been falsely persuaded may be entitled to deny the validity of the contract or agreement and possibly even entitle the person to damages as a result. MITIGATION: mitigation has two distinct meanings in law. On the one hand it is the steps which a person must take to minimize the loss which they incur for example when the other party to a contract has broken the terms of that contract. In other words, the wronged party cannot simply let a loss continue to mount up and then hold the other person responsible - they must attempt to limit the damage caused. The other main meaning is that it is the facts which are put forward, normally in a criminal case, as to why the convicted person should be given a lesser sentence than they would otherwise receive. Such a "plea in mitigation" will be considered by the judge before sentencing takes place. MORTGAGE: a mortgage is a security given by one person to guarantee to another person who lends them money that the money will be repaid. The most common form of mortgage is the one taken out by a home owner and granted to the lender that enables them to purchase a property, in which case the mortgage will be over the property purchased. The mortgage will normally be created by a mortgage deed which then becomes recorded against the title to the land subject to it. The land can then only be sold if the mortgage is first paid off or, as usually happens, an undertaking is given by a solicitor that the mortgage will be paid off from the proceeds of the sale. MOTION: a request to the court. Back to Top- N -NEGLIGENCE: negligence is an example of a civil wrong known as a tort and is where one person acts carelessly or in such a way that damage, injury or loss is suffered by someone to whom the person committing the act had a duty of care. In determining whether or not someone was negligent, account has to be taken of whether the actions were careless, whether a duty was owed to the person complaining of the negligence and the remoteness of the damage caused.NUISANCE: a nuisance, as with negligence, is one of those civil wrongs known as a tort, and it usually relates to the interference with the rights of a person, most commonly in connection with their rights to enjoy their own land. Whilst commonly we think of nuisance as being the acts of neighbors such as noise, it can extend to the escape from land of water or fumes or the performance of an unsociable activity. If the nuisance starts to affect a number of people it becomes a public nuisance which is a criminal offense. Back to Top- O -OATH: an oath is a solemn and formal declaration by a person that what they are about to say or write is the truth. It is usually made while holding a bible or the oath givers chosen religious text. A written oath is usually referred to as an affidavit.Back to Top- P -PARTNERSHIP: when two or more people wish to undertake a business together they have the option of doing so by agreement rather than forming a limited company. That undertaking is known as a partnership. While it is advisable for the parties to draw up a partnership agreements setting out their respective rights and obligations, they do not need to do so and many partnerships are simply verbal or informal agreements. The partners agree as to the extent to which each will input into the business in terms of capital and work, as well as the extent to which they will take profits from the business as and when they arise. Partners owe to each other a responsibility of good faith. So far as the outside world is concerned all partners are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the partnership, whether or not they were concerned in incurring them.PASSING OFF: passing off is yet another of those civil wrongs known as a tort. A passing off occurs if a person makes goods or services look as they are connected with someone else, who will in most cases be better known. In other words it is an attempt to profit from the established reputation of another. Often where there is a passing off there is also a Trade Mark infringement, as when, for example, someone sells the clothes which they have made with a more famous label attached to them. PATENT: a patent is one of those rights which come under the general heading of intellectual property. A patent is the right of an individual or company to profit from a particular invention or unique manufacturing process, and must be registered in each country in which they wish that invention or process to be protected by law. Once registered, a person can grant to a third party a license to exploit the invention or process in return for the payment of a fee usually known as a royalty. PENDENTE LITE: temporary arrangements for custody, child support, child visitation, alimony, us and possession of the family home, etc., until a final hearing.PETITION: a petition is simply an application to a court seeking a legal remedy of some form, such as a divorce petition or a bankruptcy petition. PLAINTIFF: the person who started the case. POSSESSORY TITLE: this is the title to land which a person gains through the process known as adverse possession or "squatters rights". For a possessory title to be gained the person must have been in occupation of the land in question for at least 12 years, to have done so openly and not during that time to have had a complaint from the true owner nor acknowledged the right of any other person to the land. POWER OF ATTORNEY: a power of attorney is the formal grant to another person to act on your behalf - either generally or in certain limited circumstances. A recent development in the law has been the introduction of the concept of the enduring power of attorney - a document by which a person can grant rights to a person to act on their behalf should they become incapable of doing so themselves, but subject to certain safeguards. PROBATE: a grant of probate is a recognition issued by the court (usually through a Probate Court) in respect of the will of a deceased person. It acts as formal authority to the executors of a will for them to deal with the estate of the deceased person and to start to gather in the estate and then distribute it to the beneficiaries in accordance with the intentions of the deceased. In the case of someone who has died without making a will, those dealing with their estate will receive a grant of letters of administration and they will gather in the estate and then dispose of it according to the normal rules of intestacy. PROMISSORY NOTE: a promissory note is simply a fancy name for an IOU, a written acknowledgement of a debt owed by one person to another. A bank note is a promissory note issued by the bank upon which it is drawn in favor of the person who has the right to it at any given time. PRO SE/PROPER PERSON: representing yourself in court without an attorney. PROXY: a proxy is simply someone who acts on behalf of another, particularly when voting at a shareholder's or members meeting. Back to Top- Q -QUIET ENJOYMENT: the right of a person to occupy peacefully the land which they own or rent is known as quiet enjoyment. It is for example, one of the rights normally granted by a landlord to a tenant.Back to Top- R -RECEIVER: a receiver is the person appointed by the court or a creditor to administer the financial and business affairs of a debtor, typically one who is bankrupt or insolvent. RECONCILIATION: married people getting back together.RESIDUARY ESTATE: All the property contained in your probate estate except for property to pay your debts and property that has been bequeathed to particular persons. Thus your residuary estate includes the rest of your real estate and the rest of your personal property. RESTRICTIVE COVENANT: a restrictive covenant is a term in a contract which prevents someone from doing something during and often for a period following the termination of a contract, for example, working for a competitor. The court will always look at the reasonableness of such a term when asked to enforce it and at the respective bargaining strengths of the parties at the time at which it was entered into. ROYALTY: a payment made in return for being permitted to exercise a right owned by another person. Most commonly it is allied to the payment made by a publisher or record producer to the author of a book or performer of a piece of music, but it can apply equally to a payment made for producing something by a patented process. Back to Top- S -SALE OR RETURN: if goods are purchased on sale or return it means that if the person purchasing them is unable to sell them on to a third party they may be returned to the producer without needing to be paid for. Normally certain conditions apply to a sale or return dealing with the state of the goods when returned and the time by which the return must take place. The law regards the goods as being owned by the producer until the sale takes place when the title in them passes to the purchaser. The intermediary then becomes liable to pay to the producer the agreed price. SECURITY: a security is a guarantee given in exchange for the payment of a sum of money. SERVICE: providing a copy of the papers being filed to the other side.SHARE: a share is the right of ownership which a shareholder has within a company. The rights which attach to the share are usually set out in the Articles of Association (see above). A company may issue many shares and not all of them need be worth the same amount nor carry the same rights. Unless the articles in some way prevent it, it is possible for a share to be sold to a third party - at which time the third party will become the shareholder in the company. SPOUSE: husband or wife. SUBPOENA: a form issued by the court requiring someone to appear in court and/or bring documents. SUMMING UP: a summing up is the final set of remarks made by a judge at the end of a case summarizing the facts of the case for the benefit of the jury. Back to Top- T -TENANCY IN COMMON: a tenancy in common is one of the ways (along with a joint tenancy - see earlier) in which two or more people can own an interest in the same land. In a tenancy in common each of the owners has a specifically defined share in the proceeds of sale of the land (although not physically in the land itself) and each may do as they please with that share. Thus, a tenant in common can leave their share by will to their beneficiaries or can sell their share to a third person.TESTAMENTARY TRUST: A trust that comes into existence at the death of the person creating the Will. TESTATOR/TESTATRIX: a testator is a man who make a will, a testatrix a woman. TITLE: a person has title to something if they are the legal owner. Thus to be the owner of a freehold in land is to have title to that land. TORT: other sections in this glossary have referred to the concept of a tort or civil wrong. Many different types of wrongs are classified as torts including trespass, nuisance, negligence and defamation. The law of tort is part of what is generally known as the common law, in other words the basic principles go back to a time before the current modern legal system took over, although most torts have been subsequently redefined or clarified either by statute or by the courts in cases. TRADE MARK: a trade mark is another of those rights, along with a patent and a copyright, which form that branch of the law known as intellectual property. If someone carries on business using a particular device, mark, name, logo or design then they do so with the benefit of a trade mark. Some trademarks are capable of registration, although there are strict rules as to what can and cannot be registered. An attempt by someone to trade under the trade mark of another amounts to a passing off and is actionable in the courts. TRESPASS: trespass is yet another of those civil wrongs known as torts. Put at its simplest, a trespass ins the act of interfering with the rights of another person, either in relation to lands, goods or even the person themselves. TRUSTS: a whole web site could be filled with an exposition concerning the law of trusts. The concept of a trust is at the heart of many areas of law, including investments, charities, pensions, gifts to minors by will, and is simply the holding of assets by one person (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary). Would that it were that simple! The law sets out strict rules as to what the trustee must and must not do in performing his or her duties, and also what liabilities they are subject to in terms of accountability, profiting from the trust and duties generally. TRUSTEE: The person or institution responsible for managing a trust according to its terms. Back to Top- U -ULTRA VIRES: meaning literally beyond ones power, an act which is ultra vires is one which is beyond the scope of the authority that a person or organization has. Thus an agent can be ultra vires the scope of his or her agency agreement, a company can act ultra vires the objects contained in its memorandum of association and a local authority or minister can act ultra vires the powers conferred on them by legislation.UNCONTESTED DIVORCE: when the defendant is not going to try to stop the divorce and there are no issues for the court to decide about the children, money, or property. UNDUE INFLUENCE: if a person is subject to pressure such as to cause them to do something which they would not otherwise have done, then they are said to have been subject to undue influence. It occurs most regularly in connection with wills and contracts, and can amount to good cause for them being set aside. Back to Top- V -VENUE: the county where the case is heard.Back to Top- W -WILL: a Will is a document by which a person gives instructions as to what is to happen upon that person's death in so far as property and their remains are concerned. It is a formal set of instructions to those people whom the testator (the person making the will) wishes to carry out his or her instructions (the executors). In most cases it must be in writing, made while the person is of sound mind and body and signed in the presence of two witnesses who must themselves sign the document also. Wills can be deceptively simple documents and should only be made by those who know what they are doing since the person making the will won't be around at the time it comes into effect.WRIT OF SUMMONS: a form issued by the court directing a party to respond to a complaint, motion, or petition. 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