Glossary of Legal Terms

-A-

Acknowledgment - A formal declaration before an authorized official by the person who executed an instrument that it is his free act and deed; the certificate of the official on such instrument attesting that it was so acknowledged.

Alternative dispute resolution - Settling a dispute without a full, formal trial. Methods include mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and settlement, among others.

Arbitration – The hearing of a dispute by an impartial third person or persons (chosen by the parties), whose award the parties agree to accept.

-B-

Bench trial – Trial without a jury in which a judge decides the facts.

Beneficiary – Someone named to receive property or benefits in a will. In a trust, a person who is to receive benefits from the trust.

Burden of proof – In the law of evidence, the necessity or duty of affirmatively proving a fact or facts in dispute on an issue raised between the parties in a lawsuit. The responsibility of proving a point.

-C-

Civil action – An action brought to enforce or protect private rights.

Claim – A debt owing by a debtor to another person or business. In probate parlance, the term used for debts of the decedent and a procedure that must be followed by a creditor to obtain payment from his estate.

Clear and convincing evidence – Standard of proof commonly used in civil lawsuits and in regulatory agency cases. It governs the amount of proof that must be offered in order for the plaintiff to win the case.

Conservatorship – Legal right given to a person to manage the property and financial affairs of a person deemed incapable of doing that for himself or herself.

-D-

Deposition – Testimony of a witness or a party taken under oath outside the courtroom, the transcript of which becomes a part of the court’s file.

Docket – An abstract or listing of all pleadings filed in a case; the book containing such entries; trial docket is a list of or calendar of cases to be tried in a certain term.

Due process of law – The right of all persons to receive the guarantees and safeguards of the law and the judicial process. It includes such constitutional requirements as adequate notice, assistance of counsel, and the rights to remain silent, to a speedy and public trial, to an impartial jury, and to confront and secure witnesses.

-E-

Enjoining – An order by the court telling a person to stop performing a specific act.

Entity – A person or legally recognized organization.

Escrow – Money or a written instrument such as a deed that, by agreement between parties, is held by a neutral third party untill all conditions of the agreement are met.

Ethics – Of or relating to moral action and conduct; professionally right; conforming to professional standards.

Executor – A personal representative, named in a will, who administers an estate.

Expungement – The process by which the record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed.

-F-

Felony – A serious criminal offense. Under federal law any offense punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

Fraud – A false representation of a matter of fact which is intended to deceive another.

-G-

Garnishment – A legal proceeding in which a debtor’s money, in the possession of another (the garnishee) is applied to the debts of the debtor, such as when an employer garnishes a debtor’s wages.

Guardianship – Legal right given to a person to be responsible for the food, housing, health care, and other necessities of a person deemed incapable of providing these necessities for himself or herself.

-H-

Hearing – A formal proceeding with definite issues of law or of fact to be heard (less formal than a trial).

Hearsay – Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question byt heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.

-I-

Implied contract – A contract not created or evidenced by the explicit agreement of the parties but one inferred by law; as the use of electric power in your home implies a contract with the light company.

Injunction – A prohibitive order or remedy issued by the court at the suit of the complaining party, which forbids the defendant to do some act which he is threatening or attempting to do.

Interlocutory – Temporary; provisional; interim; not final.

-J-

Joint and several liability – A legal doctrine that makes each of the parties who are responsible for an injury, liable for all the damages awarded in a lawsuit if the other parties responsible cannot pay.

Jurisdiction – The power or authority of a court to hear and try a case; the geographic area in which a court has power or the types of cases it has power to hear.

Justiciable – Issues and claims capable of being properly examined in court.

-K-

Key number system – A research aid which classifies digests of cases into various law topics and subtopics which are given paragraph numbers called “Key Numbers”. These numbers help the researcher quickly find all references to the legal matter being researched.

-L-

Larceny – Obtaining property by fraud or deceit.

Liable – Legally responsible.

Lien – An encumbrance or legal burden upon property.

-M-

Malfeasance – The commission of an unlawful act.

Mediation – A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a settlement.

Misdemeanor – A criminal offense lesser than a felony and generally punishable by fine or by imprisonment other than in a penitentiary.

-N-

Negligence – Failure to use care which a reasonable and prudent person would use under similar circumstances.

No-contest Clause – Language in a will that provides that a person who makes a legal challenge to the will’s validity will be disinherited.

Nuncupative will – An oral (unwritten) will.

-O-

Order – A mandage, command, or direction authoritatively given. Direction of a court or judge made in writing.

Ordinance – A rule established by authority; may be a municipal statute of a city council, regulating such matters as zoning, building, safety, matters of municipality, etc.

-P-

Perjury – The criminal offense of making a false statement under oath.

Personal property – Anything a person owns other than real estate.

Pour-Over will – A will that leaves some or all estate assets to a trust established before the will-maker’s death.

Probate – Court proceeding by which a will is proved valid or invalid. Term used to mean all proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates such as the process by which assets are gathered; applied to pay debts, taxes, and expenses of administration; and distributed to those designated as beneficiaries in the will. Conducted in state courts.

-Q-

Quash – To vacate or void a summons, subpoena, etc.

Quitclaim deed – A deed without warranty of title which passes whatever title the grantor has to another.

-R-

Redress – To set right; to remedy; to compensate; to remove the causes of a grievance.

Remittitur – The reduction by a judge of the damages awarded by a jury.

Rescission – The unmaking or undoing of a contract; repeal.

Revocable trust – A trust that the grantor may change or revoke.

-S-

Self-proving will – A will whose validity does not have to be testified to in court by the witnesses to it, since the witnesses executed an affidavit reflecting proper execution of the will prior to the maker’s death.

Settlor – The person who sets up a trust. Also referred to as “grantor”.

Standing – The legal right to bring a lawsuit. Only a person with something at stake has standing to bring a lawsuit.

Suppress – To forbid the use of evidence at a trial because it it improper or was improperly obtained.

-T-

Testamentary capacity – The legal ability to make a will.

Title – Legal ownership of property, usually real property or automobiles.

Tort – A private or civil wrong or injury for which the court provides a remedy through an action for damages.

Trust – A legal device used to manage real or personal property, established by one person (grantor or settlor) for the benefit of another (beneficiary).

-U-

Unlawful detainer – A detention of real estate without the consent of the owner or other person entitled to its possession.

Unsecured debts – In bankruptcy, debts such as open accounts at department stores for which the debtor has not pledged collateral to guarantee payment.

-V-

Vacate – To set aside.

Voir dire – The preliminary examination made in court of a witness orjuror to determine his competency or interest in a matter. To speak the truth.

-W-

Waiver – Intentionally given up a right.

Warranty Deed – A deed which guarantees that the title conveyed is good and its transfer rightful.

Will – A document in which a person specifies the method to be applied in the management and distribution of his estate after his death.

-X-

-Y-

-Z-

Zoning Commission – Local agencies with jurisdiction to regulate use of properties within their geographic area.