The distance between a property boundary and a building. A minimum setback is usually required by law.
APPRECIATION
An increase in value. Appreciated property is property that has gone up in value since it was acquired.
BREACH OF CONTRACT
A legal claim that one party failed to perform as required under a valid agreement with the other party. For example you might say, 'The roofer breached our con... (more...)
A legal claim that one party failed to perform as required under a valid agreement with the other party. For example you might say, 'The roofer breached our contract by using substandard supplies when he repaired my roof.'
LEGACY
An outdated legal word meaning personal property left by a will. The more common term for this type of property is bequest. Compare devise.
SEIZURE
The taking of physical evidence or property by law enforcement officials. This runs the gamut from taking blood for a drug test to impounding a car used in a ro... (more...)
The taking of physical evidence or property by law enforcement officials. This runs the gamut from taking blood for a drug test to impounding a car used in a robbery. The police must generally obtain a search warrant, or court order, before they can seize personal property.
YELLOW-DOG CONTRACT
An employment contract in which the employer forbids the employee to join a labor union. Yellow-dog contracts are not legally enforceable.
EXECUTRIX
An old-fashioned term for a female executor--the person named in a will to handle the distribution of the deceased person's property. Now, whether male or femal... (more...)
An old-fashioned term for a female executor--the person named in a will to handle the distribution of the deceased person's property. Now, whether male or female, this person is called either the executor or the personal representative.
WORDS OF PROCREATION
Language used to leave property to a person and his or her descendants, which typically take the form 'to A, and the heirs of his body,' where A is the person r... (more...)
Language used to leave property to a person and his or her descendants, which typically take the form 'to A, and the heirs of his body,' where A is the person receiving the property.
FORM INTERROGATORIES
Printed or 'canned' sets of questions that one party in a lawsuit asks an opposing party. Form interratories cover the issues commonly encountered in the kind o... (more...)
Printed or 'canned' sets of questions that one party in a lawsuit asks an opposing party. Form interratories cover the issues commonly encountered in the kind of lawsuit at hand. For example, lawyers' form books have sets of interrogatories designed for contract disputes, landlord-tenant cases and many others. Form interrogatories are often supplemented by questions written by the lawyers and designed for the particular issues in the case.