In family law, age of consent refers to the age one can give meaningful consent. If over the age of 18 years, meaningful consent is presumed. However the presumption may be negated if the person lacked capacity due to developmental disability, illness or duress. It may also be the age at which a person is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity.
Agency law is a common law doctrine controlling relationships between agents and principals. A principal-agent relationship is created when the agent is given authority to act on behalf of the principal.
An agent is a person authorized to act on behalf of another person. The party an agent is authorized to act for is known as the principal. A principal-agent relationship can either be intentionally created or created by implication through one’s actions.
For further information, see Agency Law.
Alienation of affection is a mostly outdated law that allows a spouse to sue an individual that causes their other spouse to end their marriage.
Alimony refers to the financial assistance and monetary support provided by one spouse to another after a marriage ends in
An ancestor is a predecessor in the family.
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 applies when an impediment to a legal marriage existed at the beginning of the marriage.
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 wi
Anti-lapse statutes are laws enacted in every state that prevent bequests from lapsing when the intended beneficiary has relatives covered by the statute.
Appointive assets refer to the property, both real property and chattel, subject to a power of appointment. Once the power of appointment is exercised, ownership of the appointive assets will transfer to the appointees.
