coverture (k[schwa]v-[schwa]r-ch[schwa]r also -tyoor), n. Archaic. The condition of being a married woman (under former law, a woman under coverture was allowed to sue only through the personality of her husband). See feme covert under FEME. [Cases: Husband and Wife 55.] — covert (k[schwa]v-[schwa]rt), adj. “Coverture, is a french word signifying any thing that covereth, […]
in potestate viri (in poh-tes-tay-tee veer-I). [Latin] Hist. Under the power of the husband. • Formerly, this phrase appeared in reference to the position of a wife in legal matters because the husband was the guardian of the wife.
maintenance, n. 1. The continuation of something, such as a lawsuit. 2. The continuing possession of something, such as property. 3. The assertion of a position or opinion; the act of upholding a position in argument. 4. The care and work put into property to keep it operating and productive; general repair and upkeep. 5.
loss of consortium (k[schwa]n-sor-shee-[schwa]m). 1. A loss of the benefits that one spouse is entitled to receive from the other, including companionship, cooperation, aid, affection, and sexual relations. • Loss of consortium can be recoverable as damages from a tortfeasor in a personal-injury or wrongful-death action. Originally, only the husband could sue for loss of
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birth. The complete extrusion of a newborn baby from the mother’s body. • The quotation below states the traditional legal view of birth. In a few jurisdictions, the state of the law may be changing. In South Carolina, for example, a child does not have to be born alive to be a victim of murder;
community-property state. A state in which spouses hold property that is acquired during marriage (other than property acquired by inheritance or individual gift) as community property. See COMMUNITY PROPERTY. Cf. COMMON-LAW STATE E (2). [Cases: Husband and Wife 246–276(9).]
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quem nuptiae demonstrant (kwem n[schwa]p-shee-ee di-mon-strant). [Latin] Roman & Scots law. Whom the marriage indicates. • The phrase refers to the rebuttable presumption that a husband is the father of a child that his wife gives birth to. See presumed father, putative father under FATHER.
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virtual-representation doctrine. The principle that a judgment may bind a person who is not a party to the litigation if one of the parties is so closely aligned with the nonparty’s interests that the nonparty has been adequately represented by the party in court. • Under this doctrine, for instance, a judgment in a case
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Money paid by one married person to another for support if they are no longer living together as husband and wife. • This type of maintenance is often mandated by a court order. An action for separate maintenance is not maintainable after the entry of a divorce decree. — Also termed separate support. [Cases: Husband
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legatory (leg-[schwa]-tor-ee), n. Hist. The one-third portion of a freeman’s estate in land that he could dispose of by will. • The other two portions of the estate were subject to claims of the wife and children.