Alluvion is the slow accretion or erosion of soil, sand, and other parts of land. Water usually causes alluvion by moving the shoreline over time. In some areas located besides rivers and oceans, land can continuously change its shape through...
PROPERTY
alternate beneficiary
An alternate beneficiary is someone who will benefit from or gain ownership of property only if the primary beneficiary is unable or unwilling to take ownership. An alternative beneficiary in property law arises when someone bequests property...
alternative contingent remainder
An alternative contingent remainder occurs when the same property is subject to two contingent remainders with opposite conditions precedent such that one of them will always take effect.
A contingent remainder is a type of...
ambiguity
Ambiguity means language in an agreement has more than one meaning. Cases such as this one from New York explain that ambiguity in the context of a contract is defined as “whether a reasonably intelligent person looking at the contract...
ameliorative waste
Ameliorative waste refers to modifications that increase the value of property made by a tenant who failed to obtain the landowner or future interest holder’s permission. Ameliorative waste differs from permissive waste and voluntary waste,...
amend
To amend is to make a change by adding, subtracting, or substituting. For example, one can amend a statute, a contract, the United States Constitution, or a pleading filed in a lawsuit. Generally, procedures dictate the way in which one...
ancestor
An ancestor is a predecessor in the family. In a legal sense, especially in the law of inheritance, any person whose estate is inherited by legal act or descent is an ancestor. The term ancestor applies only to natural persons. Predecessors...
ancillary administration
Ancillary administration is the performance of ancillary probate which is a proceeding for estate assets located in another state than where the deceased lived. Each state has its own property laws, so administrators of estates must have a...
ancillary probate
Ancillary probate is a secondary proceeding required in another state than the original probate proceeding. This secondary proceeding is required where the deceased left property or assets in more than one state, and because each state has...
anti-contest clause
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 will not dispute the...