A civil union is a marriage-like relationship, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. In other words, civil union is a legal relationship between two people that provides legal protection to the...
family & personal matters
civil union partners
Civil union partners are partners who are in a marriage-like legal relationship. If a couple is in a civil union they receive inheritance rights, employment benefits, property, parental rights, etc.
The exact level of rights...
codicil
Codicil is a supplement that either amends or revokes a decedent’s will in whole or in part. A codicil does not replace the underlying will.
[Last updated in July of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
cohabitation
Cohabitation is used primarily to denote the arrangement between two individuals who live together, either as spouses or unmarried partners.
Some common uses of the term “cohabitation” in a legal sense include:
...collaborative divorce
Collaborative divorce refers to a method of divorce based on collaborative law where the spouses negotiate a divorce agreement alongside different professionals in a cooperative manner. Collaborative divorce is a newer method for resolving...
collateral consanguinity
Collateral consanguinity is the relationship between persons who are descendants from the same common ancestor but do not descend or ascend from each other. In other words, they are related by blood but do not descend from each other.
...collateral descendant
A collateral descendant, also referred to as a collateral heir or collateral kin, descends from the same common ancestor as the decedent, but does not descend directly from the decedent. For example, siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, and...
collaterals
Collaterals are relatives who descend from a common ancestor, other than direct ancestors and issue. Examples of one’s collaterals would be relatives such as uncles, aunts, or cousins. On the other hand, one’s ancestors are parents,...
comfort care
Comfort care, also called palliative care, is medical care designed not to cure, but to reduce a patient’s pain and keep him or her comfortable. This kind of medical care focuses on the patient’s quality of life, usually toward his or her end of life....
commingling
Commingling refers broadly to the mixing of funds belonging to one party with funds belonging to another party. It most often describes a fiduciary’s improper mixing of their personal funds with funds belonging to a client. This form of...