dilapidations, action for (d[schwa]-lap-[schwa]-day-sh[schwa]nz). Hist. An action brought by a new incumbent of a benefice for damages rising from the disrepair of the houses or buildings on the benefice. • The incumbent — whether of a rectory, a vicarage, or a chapel — sued the executors or administrators of the incumbent’s deceased predecessor (who was […]
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coroner (kor- orkahr-[schwa]-n[schwa]r). 1. A public official whose duty is to investigate the causes and circumstances of any death that occurs suddenly, suspiciously, or violently. See MEDICAL EXAMINER. [Cases: Coroners 1. C.J.S. Coroners and Medical Examiners § 2.] 2. Hist. A royal official with countywide jurisdiction to investigate deaths, to hold inquests, and to assume
assize utrum (yoo-tr[schwa]m). [Latin] Hist. A writ to determine whether land claimed by a church was held by lay or spiritual tenure. • This writ is named after its emphatic word, which required the fact-finder to determine whether (utrum) the land belonged to the church. — Also termed (erroneously) assize of utrum; assize de utrum.
essoin (e-soyn), n. [fr. Old French essoi(g)ne “excuse”] Hist. 1. An excuse for not appearing in court on an appointed day in obedience to a summons. 2. The offering or presentation of such an excuse. — Also spelled essoign. “The first return-day of every term, properly speaking, is the first day of that term; and
The committee of principal officers and directors who directly manage an organization’s affairs between board meetings. [Cases: Corporations 299.]
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Property. 1. A future interest arising in a third person — that is, someone other than the estate’s creator, its initial holder, or the heirs of either — who is intended to take after the natural termination of the preceding estate. • For example, if a grant is “to A for life, and then to
tenendas (t[schwa]-nen-das), n. [Law Latin “to be held”] 1. Hist. The charter clause stating the nature of the tenure, so called because of the first word of the clause. 2. Scots law. TENENDUM.
disturbance of common. At common law, a wrongful interference with, or impediment to, another’s right to commonable property, such as a wrongful fencing or surcharge on the common. “The disturbance of common comes next to be considered; where any act is done, by which the right of another to his common is incommoded or diminished.
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avoision ([schwa]-voy-zh[schwa]n), n. An ambiguous act that falls between legal avoidance and illegal evasion of the law. • The term, coined by Arthur Seldon, an economist, is a blend of evasion and avoidance. Avoision usu. refers to financial acts that are not clearly legal tax avoidance or illegal tax evasion, but it sometimes appears in
litigious right. Civil law. A right that cannot be exercised without first being determined in a lawsuit. La. Civ. Code art. 2652. • If the right is sold, it must be in litigation at the time of sale to be considered a litigious right.