An irrevocable trust created by a married couple to avoid probate and minimize federal estate tax. An AB trust is created by each spouse placing property into a trust and naming someone other than his or her spouse as the final beneficiary of...
CIVICS
AB Trust
Definition
Abandonment (of Residence)
Abandonment is a determination by the USCIS that a permanent resident has surrendered his/her status as a lawful permanent resident (LPR). The intent of a LPR is a key factor in the USCIS's determination of whether the LPR has abandoned his/her...
Abduction
Definition
Taking a person away by means of persuasion, fraud, or force. Some jurisdictions also require that the abductee, the person abducted, be a child or that that the abductor intend to marry or defile the abductee or subject him or her to...
Abortion
Abortion: an overview
In 1973, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, changed the legal status of abortion by striking down a Texas law that criminalized abortion except as a means of saving the mother’s life. The case pitted individual privacy rights against...
Abrogate
Definitions
To formally annul or repeal a law through an act of the legislature, constitutional authority, or custom. In contract and insurance law, it is to rescind or terminate a contract.
In constitutional law, the abrogation doctrine...
Absentee Ballot
Definition
A paper ballot submitted, before an election day and often by mail, by a voter who is unable to attend the official polling station on election day. Also called absentee vote.
Absolute Disparity
Definition
A calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community. Calculated by subtracting the percentage of a group in the jury pool from the percentage of that group in the general population...
Absolute Privilege
Definition
Absolute privilege, in defamation law, refers to the fact that in certain circumstances, an individual is immune from liability for defamatory statements..
OverviewAbsolute privilege applies to statements made in certain contexts or in...
Abstention
Definition
A federal court's decision not to exercise jurisdiction over a case. The usual goal of abstention is the avoidance of needless conflict with a state court. See Federalism.
Abstention: an overviewAbstention is a doctrine under which...
Abstention Doctrine
See alsoAbstention