family & personal matters

comfort care

Comfort care, also called palliative care, is medical care designed not to cure, but to reduce a patient’s pain and keep him or her comfortable. This kind of medical care focuses on the patient’s quality of life, usually toward his or her end of life....

commingling

Commingling refers broadly to the mixing of funds belonging to one party with funds belonging to another party. It most often describes a fiduciary’s improper mixing of their personal funds with funds belonging to a client. This form of...

common law marriage

Common law marriage may be briefly described as a marriage without formal solemnization or without formalities such as a marriage license or ceremony. Although mere cohabitation is insufficient to establish a common-law marriage,...

common law marriage

Common law marriage is a marriage without formal solemnization or without formalities such as a marriage license or ceremony. Although mere cohabitation is insufficient to establish a common-law marriage, cohabitation is generally required as an...

common property

Common property refers to property owned by more than one entity. Because of this shared ownership, an individual party’s degree of control over common property is less than it would be if they owned that property alone. Common property is...

community property

Community property refers to assets acquired during a marriage by either spouse. These assets can include property, income and even debt. Not all states recognize community property. In a “community property” state (such as California), any...

community property with right of survivorship

Community property with the right of survivorship is an agreement where, after the death of a spouse, ownership of the property that is jointly owned by both spouses automatically passes to the other spouse. The property or asset therefore...

comparable rectitude

Comparable rectitude was a doctrine in divorce law where courts would evaluate the comparative fault of each spouse. Under the harsher doctrine of recrimination, a spouse who was accused of conduct constituting grounds for divorce could, as a...

competence

Competence is the capacity or minimal ability to do something; the mental and physical ability to carry out a given task. A few examples are: competence to stand trial, competence to be executed, competence to hold public office, and...

competent

The term competent is used in various legal contexts, including procedure, evidence, and employment. More generally, it refers to the ability to act in the circumstances, including the ability to perform a job or occupation, the capacity to...

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