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Deductible for legal purposes means some kind of expense that reduces the amount someone owes.

Regarding insurance, a deductible is an amount in an insurance claim that the provider deducts from a claim that must be paid by the insurance holder, or a deductible is the amount an individual must pay before the insurance begins paying out for claims. For example, Johnny wrecks his car causing $10,000 in damage. If Johnny has a $1,000 deductible, the insurance company would only pay $9,000.

Deduction in tax law (referred to as a tax deductible) means an item or expense that can reduce the taxes a person owes in a given year. A deductible item is subtracted from the total taxable income which can substantially reduce taxes owed by an individual or corporation.

Deed in lieu of foreclosure is an alternative to foreclosure for homeowners by deeding their house to the lending institution. Foreclosure can be long, public events that are embarrassing and draining on homeowners, but deed in lieu of foreclosure allows a quicker option where the lender agrees to take the house instead of the debt owed.

A deep link is a webpage link from one website to another website that bypasses the second website’s homepage and goes straight to an internal page on the second website. According to Adjust’s Mobile Marketing Glossary, the purpose of a deep link is to send users directly to specific locations on the second website instead of sending them to the website’s homepage which allows for more efficient web-browsing.

Defalcation refers to someone who has legally required financial duties and misuses or misappropriates funds. Defalcation often can constitute fraud, but defalcation can also be unintentional. Defalcation often arises regarding trustees or fiduciaries in their jobs regarding estate or corporate funds. 

Defamation is a statement that injures a third party's reputation. The tort of defamation includes both libel (written statements) and slander (spoken statements). State common law and statutory law governs defamation actions, and each state varies in their standards for defamation and potential damages.

• slander
• libel
• defamation
• absolute immunity
• qualified immunity
• tort law

Defeasance can be best described as an annulment or abrogation. This term is used more in property law where it can mean terminating an estate  or status with a conditional limitation.

A remainder interest which is subject to divestment in the event a specific condition is attained. For example, “A to B, unless B consumes alcohol.” 

[Last reviewed in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]

A defect is an imperfection or insufficiency, which may be present in a product, property, process, or legal document.

The term defective is used in reference to something that is incapable of fulfilling its function, due to an error or flaw. Some common uses of the term “defective” in a legal sense include: