Causa mortis is a Latin term referring to the awareness that death is approaching. In property law, when a party, acting with awareness that their death is approaching, gives something to another party, the resulting gift is known as a gift causa mortis.
A citation sentence is a sentence consisting entirely of one or more citations. A citation sentence is used to cite sources and legal authorities that refer to the entire preceding sentence. Citation sentences always begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Semicolons are used to separate multiple sources in a citation sentence.
To cite means to make reference to an authority in a citation. In a legal context, a citation is also used to order someone to appear before a court.
[Last reviewed in July of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
In reference to law, “civil” is used primarily as a descriptive term to denote conflicts between private individuals. Where in a civil case two or more individuals or private entities (such as corporations) dispute their rights relative to each other (such as in a contract
In the practice of law, a code is an organized compilation of existing laws. It is a collection of all the laws in force, including the enacted laws and case law, covering a complete legal system or a specific area. A code can make the formulation of legal principles and rules more concise, clear, and thorough, so that people can understand the rules more quickly and comprehensively.
To be codified is to be defined or otherwise included in a legislative statute. It is sometimes used in a wider sense to refer to principles that can be found not just in statutes, but also in constitutions, administrative rules, and other non-judicial sources of law.
