wife. A married woman; a woman who has a lawful husband living. common-law wife. 1. The wife in a common-law marriage; a woman who contracts an informal marriage with a man and then holds herself out to the community as being married to him. See common-law marriage under MARRIAGE(1). 2. Archaic. Loosely, a concubine. plural […]
separate-spheres doctrine. Hist. Family law. The common-law doctrine that wives were limited to control of the home — the personal or domestic sphere — and that husbands had control of the public sphere. • Under this early-19th-century doctrine, the wife was to tend to the home and family and the husband was to be the
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doctrine of necessaries. 1. The rule holding a parent or spouse liable to anyone who sells goods or provides medical services to that person’s child or spouse if the goods or services are required for sustenance, support, or healthcare. 2. Archaic. The common-law rule holding a husband or father liable to anyone who sells goods
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concubine (kong-ky[schwa]-bIn). 1. Archaic. A woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not married. • A concubine is often considered a wife without title. A concubine’s status arises from the permanent cohabitation of a man and a woman as husband and wife although without the benefit of marriage. Cf. common-law wife under
Any of the following five types of estates: (1) a joint tenancy, (2) a tenancy in common, (3) an estate in coparcenary (a common-law estate in which coheirs hold as tenants in common), (4) a tenancy by the entirety, or (5) an estate in partnership. [Cases: Husband and Wife 14.2–14.7; Joint Tenancy 1; Tenancy in
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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