Statutory offer of settlement is a monetary offer extended to a plaintiff by a defendant to settle all disputes before trial. Usually the plaintiff has a short period of time depending on the state and case to accept the offer. If the...
subject
statutory rape
Statutory rape is defined by statute as an act of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent, which is considered to constitute rape under the law, whether the person is willing or not. In statutory rape, there is usually no...
statutory share
Statutory share (also called forced, elective, or spousal share) refers to the amount state laws entitle a spouse or other person to regardless of what is in a will. Usually, statutory share will refer to the amount a person will be able to...
stay
Stay is an action taken by a court to stop a legal proceeding or the actions of a party. A stay most commonly is issued by a court as a stay of proceedings in order to stop litigation from continuing, and they normally are only temporary. A...
stay of execution
Stay of execution is directed by a court to stop some form of enforcement action. A stay of execution can apply in many circumstances like stopping the sale of property in bankruptcy or the execution of a death penalty. When a stay of...
stay of proceedings
A ruling by a court to stop or suspend a proceeding or trial temporarily or indefinitely. A court may later lift the stay and continue the proceeding. Some stays are automatic, but others are up to judicial discretion. Usually, the pendency of an...
stepparent
A stepparent, including stepfather and stepmother, is a person who marries one’s own parent after the death or divorce of the other parent and therefore has no biological relationship to the child. Stepparents are not legal parents of the...
stepparent adoption
Stepparent adoption is the legal, formal adoption of a child by a stepparent who is married to a legal parent of that child. Stepparent adoption is the most common type of adoption in the United States, with conditions such as voluntary...
stepped-up basis
Stepped-up basis refers to a tax policy that looks at the market value of assets at the time a person inherits them instead of the value when the prior owner purchased the assets. For tax purposes, assets that are sold will be taxed for...
stipulate
When two opposing parties in a case enter into a voluntary agreement on some factual or legal point. Because the point is no longer in dispute, neither side has to introduce evidence to prove it.