Also called “mental anguish”, mental suffering refers to discomfort, dysfunction, or distress of the mind; usually the kind that results from physical pain or injury. It also refers to emotional pain and suffering (including highly unpleasant emotions like anxiety, depression, anguish, grief, fright, humiliation, or fury) that result from another person’s conduct.
A term interchangeable with commercial law, mercantile law is often used in reference to the law governing the transactions and disputes of individuals and businesses that engage in commerce.
“Merchantable” is equivalent to “marketable” or “sellable.” Goods are merchantable when they are of reasonable quality within expected variations and are fit for sale in usual course of trade, at usual selling price. Merchantable goods need not be outstanding or superior quality, they need only be fit for the ordinary purpose for which they are used.
Mercy killing is the intentional ending of the life of a person suffering from a severe injury or terminal illness for the purpose of relieving their pain or suffering. The term is most commonly associated with euthanasia and physician-assisted dying, though it is not a formal legal term and is often used broadly in ethical, medical, and public discourse.
In criminal law, if a defendant commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses, merger will occur. This means that the lesser of the two offenses will drop out, and the defendant will only be charged with the greater offense. This prevents double jeopardy problems from arising.
Metes and bounds are the boundaries of a parcel of real estate that identified by its natural landmarks. Metes and bounds landmarks are often used in a “legal description” of a land. Legal description is the geographical description of a land that identifies its precise location, and is kept with the deed of the land. In legal descriptions, metes and bounds are considered as the most accurate description of a piece of land in some jurisdictions.
A mileage log is a company’s record of the mileage driven in each of their vehicles. The main reason why companies should have a mileage log is because of the possibility of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit.
The tax rate on real estate, used to calculate property tax. Millage is one of the three primary factors in determining property tax levies, the others being fair market value and assessment ratio. Millage is applied and calculated in terms of mills per dollar. One mill equals a tenth of a cent, or one-thousandth of a dollar. To calculate property tax, divide the millage by 1,000 and multiply it by the property’s assessed taxable value.
The ownership of rights to minerals, including oil and gas, contained in a tract of land. A mineral right is a real property interest and can be conveyed independently of the surface estate.
A mining claim is a portion of land containing minerals which a miner has a right to occupy and possess for the purpose of extracting minerals. The Mining Law of 1872, which provides a statutory framework for the extraction of minerals on public lands, recognizes two types of property rights in mining claims: unpatented and patented.
