alienation of affections. A tort claim for willful or malicious interference with a marriage by a third party without justification or excuse. • Where the cause of action still exists, the elements are (1) some wrongful conduct by the defendant with the plaintiff’s spouse, (2) the loss of affection or loss of consortium of the […]
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Hist. A writ allowing a divorced wife to obtain the goods given to her during the marriage.
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homestead law. A statute exempting a homestead from execution or judicial sale for debt, unless all owners, usu. a husband and wife, have jointly mortgaged the property or otherwise subjected it to creditors’ claims. — Also termed homestead exemption; homestead-exemption statute; homestead right. [Cases: Homestead 1, 118.] “Almost all states also have legislative provisions, commonly
per tout et non per my (p[schwa]r too[t] ay non p[schwa]r mee). [Law French] By the whole and not by the half. • This phrase described the estate given to a husband and wife — both are seised of the entire estate. Cf. PER MY ET PER TOUT.
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pronurus (proh-n[schwa]-r[schwa]s). [Latin] Roman & civil law. The wife of a grandson or great-grandson. Pl. pronurus.
battered-woman syndrome. Family law. A constellation of medical and psychological conditions of a woman who has suffered physical, sexual, or emotional abuse at the hands of a spouse or lover. • Battered-woman syndrome was first described in the early 1970s by Dr. Lenore Walker. It consists of a three-stage cycle of violence: (1) the tension-building
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hypobolum (hi-pob-[schwa]-l[schwa]m), n. [Latin fr. Greek] Civil law. A legacy given to a wife, in addition to her dowry, on the death of her husband. Pl. hypobola.
conjugal rights. The rights and privileges arising from the marriage relationship, including the mutual rights of companionship, support, and sexual relations. • Loss of conjugal rights amounts to loss of consortium. See CONSORTIUM. [Cases: Husband and Wife 1–354. C.J.S. Estates § 19.]
reconciliation (rek-[schwa]n-sil-ee-ay-sh[schwa]n), n. 1. Restoration of harmony between persons or things that had been in conflict (a reconciliation between the plaintiff and the defendant is unlikely even if the lawsuit settles before trial). 2. Family law. Voluntary resumption, after a separation, of full marital relations between spouses (the court dismissed the divorce petition after the
heartbalm statute. A state law that abolishes the rights of action for monetary damages as solace for the emotional trauma occasioned by a loss of love and relationship. • The abolished rights of action include alienation of affections, breach of promise to marry, criminal conversation, and seduction of a person over the legal age of