Legal Words You Should Know

Over 1,000 Essential Terms to Understand Contracts, Wills, and the Legal System

Corey Sandler, Janice Keefe

• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781598698657
• eBook ISBN: 9781440519994
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

Every day, people find themselves in legal situations. Mortgages are put in place, attorneys draw up wills, and credit cards are set up all the time. However, how many people actually understood the legal contracts they were signing? There's no excuse for being ignorant of the law when it comes to a dispute with a bank, a mortgage lender, or a lawyer. This book defines 1, 000 essential words from the worlds of civil law, estates, lending, and elder affairs, such as abatement, residuary beneficiary, trust deed, variable rate mortgage, right of rescission, and more. Each word will be clearly defined, and includes a pronunciation key and an example of usage. This guide ensures you will know the law in no time!

C

Calendar year, noun

The period of time between January 1 and December 31 of a particular year. Also, a period of year between a particular date in one year and the same date in the next year.

For the calendar year of 2006, the company showed a profit of $11 billion. However, since the company states its results based on a fiscal year that runs from February 1 to January 31, the adjusted profit was a mere $10.2 billion.

See also: Fiscal year

Call, noun

A demand for payment or other financial action by the issuer of a bond or other instrument. Or a demand by a corporation that stockholders pay an assessment on shares. Also, in an option contract, the right to purchase a specified quantity of shares at a particular price during a period of time.

The corporation issued a call for payment on its most recent series of bonds.

See also: Acceleration

Capacity, noun

Deemed legally able to perform an act that is binding or actionable, such as entering into a contract, getting married, or being a party to a lawsuit.

The judge ruled that the minor did not have the capacity to sign and be bound by the contract and dismissed the lawsuit.

See also: Incapacity

Capital, noun

The basic assets of a company, including cash and property but not including inventory and intangible assets. Also, the amount of money and negotiable financial instruments owned by an individual.

Capital is considered any form of asset that can be used in the production of more wealth.

See also: Capital assets, Capital expenditures

Capital assets, noun

Actual funds put into a business, including equipment and property purchased. Various special types of property or investments may be excluded by one or another special provision of local, state, or federal tax codes.

The capital assets of the corporation are calculated and kept current by the company’s internal accounting and auditing department as well as by outside firms that may be engaged to determine accounting.

See also: Capital

Capital expenditures, noun

Spending by a business for basic capital assets including property and machinery, excluding operational costs such as payroll, benefits, and marketing.

The company took advantage of tax breaks to increase its capital expenditures at its domestic factories.

See also: Capital

Capital gain, noun

The difference between the purchase price and sale price of a capital asset, minus the cost of improvements. Also, the net gain or loss from the sale of a financial instrument. If there is a loss on a sale, it is called a capital loss.

The company reported a capital gain of $5 million on the sale of its Lumberton property, taking into account various improvements and additions put into place over the years.

Capital offense, noun

A crime punishable by the death penalty.

In many states, premeditated homicide is a capital offense.

See also: Capital punishment, Death penalty

Capital punishment, noun

An execution of a person by the government.

Many nations do not engage in capital punishment of criminals, instead choosing to incarcerate for life those convicted of murder and other serious crimes.

See also: Capital offense, Death penalty

Capital stock, noun

The total of the amount paid by investors to a corporation to purchase stock. Once the stock has been issued, it may trade at a price above or below its original price but this is not reflected in the value of capital stock.

The company announced it would offer for sale an additional one million shares of stock at a price of $25 per share, raising the total of capital stock in the corporation to $50 million.

Capricious (ke-PREE-shes), adverb, adjective

Arbitrary, unpredictable, or subject to whim. Also, a claim that a ruling by the court does not properly follow the law or procedure.

The defense attorney argued that the judge’s ruling was capricious and was not supported by the rules of the court or state law.

Caption, noun

The title or description of a lawsuit or legal pleading.

The caption of the Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 U.S. 483, gives no hint of its landmark status in the ending of legalized segregation in the United States in 1954.

Captive reinsurance, noun

An arrangement under which a lender or other financial institution assumes part of the risk involved in a transaction by purchasing insurance from a company it owns or with which it has other business relations. In most situations, the borrower must be notified that premiums being paid for insurance are not going to a third party but instead are being fully or partly retained by the lender.

In a mortgage, if the lender has an affiliation with an insurance provider that is involved in the loan, the borrower must be notified of the existence of a captive reinsurance arrangement.

Carnal knowledge, noun

Sexual intercourse between a male and a female.

James was charged with unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor younger than the age of consent.

See also: Age of consent, Statutory rape, Minor

Carryover, noun

In tax accounting, a situation w...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Z