wex definitions

annulment

An annulment is a legal procedure that voids a marriage and declares it null from its inception. Unlike divorce, the effect of declaring a marriage void is retroactive, meaning that the marriage was void at the time it was entered into. It...

antenuptial agreement

An antenuptial agreement or a prenuptial agreement is an agreement made between parties before getting married, permitting them to individually retain certain assets during the marriage and after the marriage if divorce arises. If parties...

anti-contact rule

The anti-contact rule, also known as rule 4.2 of professional conduct, is a rule prohibiting lawyers from discussing subject matter of any case they’re working on with someone the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter...

anti-contest clause

Anti-contest clauses (also known as in terrorem clauses, contest clauses, no-contest clauses, noncontest clauses, and forfeiture clauses) are clauses in a will that impose a condition upon a devisee or legatee that they will not dispute the...

anti-greenmail provision

An anti-greenmail provision is a provision within a corporate charter that prevents the company’s board of directors from making greenmail payments.

Greenmail payments refer to payments made by a corporation to buy out the...

anti-lapse statute

Anti-lapse statutes are laws enacted in every state that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has relatives covered by the statute. Without the statutes, if someone were to bequeath something to an intended beneficiary...

anticipation

Anticipation is the performance of an act or obligation before it is legally due. Some common uses of the term “anticipation” in a legal sense include:

In the context of patent law, anticipation refers to the prior invention or...

anticipatory breach

In contract law, anticipatory breach occurs when a party repudiates prior to the date that the performance is due. Anticipatory breach is an excuse for non-performance by the non-breaching party. A party can retract its anticipatory breach provided...

anticipatory warrant

An anticipatory search warrant is a warrant that is based on an affidavit that shows probable cause that evidence of a particular crime (such as forged checks) will be at a specified location at some time (however not presently) in the future...

antilapse statute

Anti-lapse statutes are laws enacted in every state that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has relatives covered by the statute. Without the statutes, if someone were to bequeath something to an intended beneficiary...

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