Courts appoint guardians to care for people who cannot take care of themselves. The person a guardian protects is called that guardian's ward. Wards may be either minor children or incapacitated adults. In some other jurisdictions, "...
family law
Guardian
Definition
Incompetence
Definition
1. Lack of legal ability to do something, especially to testify or stand trial. Also known as "incompetency." May be caused by various types of disqualification, inability, or unfitness. Someone who is judged incompetent by means of a...
Incurable Insanity
A legal reason for obtaining a divorce. It is rarely used, however, because of the difficulty of proving both the insanity of the spouse being divorced and that the insanity is incurable.
Kin
Definition
A relative, in particular, a blood relative. Also a relative by marriage or adoption. Also called kindred, kinsman, and kinswoman.
Illustrative caselawSee, e.g. Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235 (1981).
See alsoEstates...
Kindred
Definition
See kin.
Marital Property
Marital property is property acquired after the parties are married. Property acquired before the marriage is considered the individual and separate property of the acquiring spouse and the court will have no authority to distribute individual...
Marital Settlement Agreement
Allows divorcing spouses to agree to the terms of their divorce. The agreement generally can cover property division, spousal (maintenance) support, child custody and visitation arrangements, and any other issues relevant to the divorcing couple....
Marriage
Definition
The legal union of a couple as spouses. The basic elements of a marriage are: (1) the parties' legal ability to marry each other, (2) mutual consent of the parties, and (3) a marriage contract as required by law.
See also Common...
Marriage laws
Marriage Laws of the Fifty States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
This table links to the marriage laws of the states and attempts to summarize some of their salient points. Those interested in the marriage law of a particular...
Personal Autonomy
Overview
The Supreme Court does not use the phrase "personal autonomy" very often. Unlike privacy, it is not a fundamental right. As such, it is still a very limited concept regarding its impact on legal jurisprudence.
In Planned...