Legal Term Dictionary

In a will, this is a sentence or secret character inserted by the testator, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter should be valid, unless this clause be inserted word for word. This is done as a precaution to More...

In a will, this is a sentence or secret character inserted by the testator, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter should be valid, unless this clause be inserted word for word. This is done as a precaution to guard against later wills being extorted by violence, or otherwise improperly obtained. By the law of England such a clause would be void, as tending to make the will irrevocable. Wharton. Deroaratnr legi, onm pars detrahitnr; alsrogatnr legi, onm prorsus tollitur. To derogate from a law is to take away part of it; to abrogate a law is to abolish it entirely. Dig. 50, 17, 102. Less...

In Spanish law. An irregular action committed with violence against law, custom, or reason.

In Spanish law. An irregular action committed with violence against law, custom, or reason. Less...

In Mexican law. The desamortizacion of property is to take it out of mortmain, (dead hands;) that is, to unloose it from the grasp, as it were, of ecclesiastical or civil corporations. The term has no equivalent in English. Hall, Mex. Law, { 749.

In Mexican law. The desamortizacion of property is to take it out of mortmain, (dead hands;) that is, to unloose it from the grasp, as it were, of ecclesiastical or civil corporations. The term has no equivalent in English. Hall, Mex. Law, { 749. Less...

One who is descended from another; a person who proceeds from the body of another, such as a child, grandchild, etc., to the remotest degree. The term is tbe opposite of "ascendant" (q. v.) Descendants is a good term of description in a will, and includes all who proceed from More...

One who is descended from another; a person who proceeds from the body of another, such as a child, grandchild, etc., to the remotest degree. The term is tbe opposite of "ascendant" (q. v.) Descendants is a good term of description in a will, and includes all who proceed from the body of the person named; as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Amb. 397 ; 2 Hil. Real. Prop. 242. Less...

Descent; in the descent. See FORMEDON.

Descent; in the descent. See FORMEDON. Less...

Capable of passing by descent or of being inherited or transmitted by devise, (spoken of estates, titles, offices, and other property.) Collins y. Smith, 105 Ga. 525, 31 S. E. 449. i

Capable of passing by descent or of being inherited or transmitted by devise, (spoken of estates, titles, offices, and other property.) Collins y. Smith, 105 Ga. 525, 31 S. E. 449. i Less...

Hereditary succession. Succession to tbe ownership of an estate by inheritance, or by any act of law, as distinguished from ''purchase." Title by descent is tbe title by which one person, upon the death of another, acquires the real estate of the latter as his heir at law. 2 Bl. More...

Hereditary succession. Succession to tbe ownership of an estate by inheritance, or by any act of law, as distinguished from ''purchase." Title by descent is tbe title by which one person, upon the death of another, acquires the real estate of the latter as his heir at law. 2 Bl. Comm. 201; Com. Dig. "Descent" A; Adams v. Akerlund, 168 111. 682, 48 N. E. 454; Starr v. Hamilton, 22 Fed. Cas. 1,107; In re Donahue's Estate, 36 Cal. 332; Shippen v. Izard, 1 Serg. A R. (Pa.) 224; Brower v. Hunt, 18 Ohio St. 338; Allen v. Bland, 134 Ind. 78, 33 N. E. 774 Classification. Descents are of two sorts, lineal and collateral. Lineal descent is descent in a direct or right line, as from- father or grandfather to son or grandson. Collateral descent is descent in a collateral or oblique line, that is, up to the common ancestor and then down from him, as from brother to brother, or between cousins. Levy v. McCartee, 6 Pet 112, 8 L. Ed. 334. They are also distinguished into mediate and immediate descents. But these terms are used in different senses. A descent may. be said to be a mediate or immediate descent of the estate or right; or it may be said to be mediate or immediate, in regard to the medlateness or immediateness of the pedigree or consanguinity. Thus, a descent from the grandfather, who dies in possession, to the grandchild, the father being then dead, or from the uncle to the nephew, the brother being dead, is, in the for mer sense, in'law, immediate descent, although the one is collateral and the other lineal; for the heir is in the per, and not in the per and cat. On the other hand, with reference to the line of pedigree or consanguinity, a descent is often said to be immediate, when the ancestor from whom the party derives his blood is immediate, and without any intervening link or degrees; and mediate, when the kindred is derived from him mediante altero, another ancestor intervening between them. Thus a descent in lineals from father to son is in this sense immediate; but a descent from grandfather to grandson, the father being dead, or from uncle to nephew, the brother being dead, is deemed mediate; the father and the brother being, in these latter cases, the medium deferens, as it is called, of the descent or consanguinity. Levy v. McCartee, 6 Pet. 112, 8 L. Ed. 334; Furenes v. Mickelson, 86 Iowa, 508, 53 N. W, 416; Garner v. Wood, 71 Md. 37, 17 Atl; 103i. Descent was denoted, in the Roman law, by the term usuccession which is also used by Bracton, and from which has been derived the succession of the Scotch and French jurisprudence. -Descent cast. The devolving of realty upon the heir on the death of his ancestor intestate. Less...

Lat. Description of the person. By this is meant a word or phrase used merely for the purpose of identifying or pointing out the person intended, and not as an intimation that the language in connection with which it occurs is to apply to him only In the official or More...

Lat. Description of the person. By this is meant a word or phrase used merely for the purpose of identifying or pointing out the person intended, and not as an intimation that the language in connection with which it occurs is to apply to him only In the official or technical character which might appear to be indicated by the word, Less...

1. A delineation or ao count of a particular subject by the recital of its characteristic accidents and qualities. 2. A written enumeration of items composing an estate, or of its condition, or of titles ot documents; like an inventory, but with more particularity, and without Involving the idea of More...

1. A delineation or ao count of a particular subject by the recital of its characteristic accidents and qualities. 2. A written enumeration of items composing an estate, or of its condition, or of titles ot documents; like an inventory, but with more particularity, and without Involving the idea of an appraisement" 3. An exact written account of an article, mechanical device, or process which is the subject of an application for a patent" 4. A method of pointing out a particular person by referring to his relationship to some other person or his character as an officer, trustee, executor, etc. 5. That part of a conveyance, advertisement of sale, etc., which identifies the land intended to be affected. Less...

To leave or quit with an intention to cause a permanent separation; to forsake utterly; to abandon.

To leave or quit with an intention to cause a permanent separation; to forsake utterly; to abandon. Less...