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...
family & personal matters
AB Trust
Definition
Abandon
Definition
In marriage, abandonment is grounds for divorce in most states. Grounds arise when one spouse physically leaves the other with no intent on returning. Usually, the minimum time allowed to claim abandonment is one year, but it changes from...
Abandonment
See alsoAbandon
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...
Absolute
Definitions
1) Property: Used in property law to describe an estate that is free from any limitations at all. Only a fee simple may be absolute.
2) Divorce: An absolute divorce is a final judgment of divorce that dissolves the marriage and allows...
Abuse
Definition
1) Abuse, generally: physically, sexually, or mentally injuring a person.
2) Child abuse: physically, sexually, or mentally injuring a child either with intent or through neglect.
3) Substance abuse: excessively using or misusing...
Access
Definition
1) In terms of copyright, access refers to the ability of a potential infringer to see or obtain the copyrighted material. Access is important in determining whether a potential infringer has in fact illicitly copied the copyrighted material...
Accompanying Relative
An accompanying relative is the spouse or child (under the age of 21) of the holder of an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, who is accompanying them to the U.S.
See alsoImmigration
Accretion
1) in real estate, the increase of the actual land on a stream, lake or sea by the action of water which deposits soil upon the shoreline. Accretion is Mother Nature's little gift to a landowner. Compare to avulsion and alluvion.
2) In estates,...