FS Law Glossary Exam 1 Flashcards
Abatement
a proportional reduction of a legacy under a will when assets out of which such legacy are payable are not sufficient to pay it in full
Actual custody
the physical possession of the dead human body or other property.
Ademption
the extinction or withdrawal of an inheritance because the decedent did not own the named property at the time of death.
Administrative agency
a governmental body created by legislation empowered to regulate and issue rules and regulations.
Administrative law
that body of law created by Federal and State administrative agencies through implementation of powers and duties in the form of rules, regulations, orders and decisions (e.g., OSHA, FTC, state board rules and regulations).
Administrator/ Administratrix
the man/woman who is appointed by the court to settle the estate of a decedent who died without a last Will and Testament. (see also personal representative)
Agent driver
those drivers under the directions and control of the funeral establishment which is liable for the driver’s negligent actions
Apprenticeship (internship/resident training)
the process by which a person engages in learning the practice of funeral directing and/or embalming under instruction, direction or personal supervision of a duly licensed funeral director and/or embalmer.
Bailee
a person who receives personal property from another as a bailment.
Bailment
a delivery of personal property by one person (the bailor) to another (the bailee) who holds the property for a certain purpose under an express or implied-in-fact contract
Bailor
a person who delivers personal property to another as a bailment.
Bequest (legacy)
a gift of personal property by will.
Building code
laws, ordinances and government regulations setting forth requirements for construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of buildings.
Cadaver
a dead human body intended solely for scientific study and dissection.
Case law
appellate court decisions that establish precedential principles.
Codicil
an addition or amendment of a last will and testament executed with the same formality of the will.
Common law
non legislated principles and rules of action predicated upon usages and customs which the court considers binding on the community.
Constitution
the fundamental law that establishes the government, limits what government can and cannot do and states the underlying principles to which the government will conform.
Contract
an agreement between two or more competent persons which is enforceable by law.
Constructive custody
the situation whereby one party has a right to acquire actual custody/possession of the dead body although another party has actual physical possession.
Corpse (dead human body)
the body of a dead human being, deprived of life, but not yet entirely disintegrated.
Custodian
status associated with funeral service practitioner/funeral establishment who becomes legal protector of dead human body from time of removal until final disposition.
Degree of kindred
relationship to decedent of his relatives; each generation is one degree, counting to a common ancestor.
Devise
a gift of real estate; the act/process of transferring ownership of real property. (Devise applies to both transfers as well as by wills.)
Devisee
the person who receives real property through the process of a devise.
Due diligence
the attention reasonably expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a person who seeks to satisfy a legal requirement or to discharge an obligation.
Durable power of attorney
exists when one person appoints an agent; agent status which will become or remain effective in the event the original party she should later become incapacitated.
Escheat
forfeiture of a decedent’s property to the state in the absence of heirs.
Estate
the property of a deceased person, both real and/or personal.
Estrangement
the physical and/or emotional separation for a period of time showing the lack of affection, trust and regard.
Executor/ Executrix
a man/woman appointed by the will of a deceased person to carry out the provisions thereof and settle the estate. (see also personal representative)
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
an agency of the federal government created in 1914 to promote free and fair competition by prevention of trade restraints, price fixing, false advertising and other unfair methods of competition.
Final disposition
the conclusive performance of services with respect to the dead human body by one of 48 the legally recognized methods.
Funeral director (Funeral service practitioner)
a person properly licensed, engaged in, or conducting, or holding himself/herself out as being engaged in preparing, other than by embalming, for the burial or disposition of dead human bodies.
Funeral establishment
a facility used in the care and preparation for the funeral and/or final disposition of dead human bodies.
Funeral service law (mortuary law/mortuary jurisprudence)
that branch of law which relates to matters concerned with the disposal of the dead and regulation of funeral directors/embalmers and funeral establishments.
Funeral service practitioner
a person properly licensed, engaged in, or conducting, or holding himself/herself out as being engaged in preparing, other than by embalming, for the burial or disposition of dead human bodies.
General power of attorney
a written instrument authorizing one person to do anything for the principal. In other words, one party has full power of attorney for another party.
Gross negligent act
the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another.
Guardian
a judicial appointment of one person to administer the affairs of another person who is incompetent by virtue of age or legal disability.
Heir
one who inherits, or is entitled to receive property by will or by laws of intestacy.
Holographic will
a will written entirely by the hand of the testator/testatrix.
Householder
the occupier of a house; one who owns or controls real estate where a death occurs.
Inheritance
the estate which passes from the decedent to his/her heirs.
Insolvent estate
the condition of the estate of a deceased person which is unable to pay the debts of the decedent and/or the estate.
Intestate succession
the method used to distribute property owned by a person who dies without a valid will
Inventory
listing and valuation of a decedent’s assets by a personal representative of the estate.
Invitee
one who has been invited on the property by the landowner; persons coming to a funeral home for the purpose of attending funerals, viewing remains, or engaging the funeral director’s services are some examples.
Kin
one’s relatives collectively; referring to blood relationship (legally, the surviving spouse is not a kin).
Law
those rules of conduct commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
Legacy
a gift of personal property by will.
Legatee
one who inherits personal property under a will.
Liability
responsibility for actions and/or other debts; the quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable.
Lien
a claim or charge against real or personal property for payment of some debt (there can be no lien against a dead human body for it is not property).
Livery
automotive equipment made available for hire.
Living will
a document which governs the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from an individual in the event of an incurable or irreversible condition that will cause death within a relatively short time, and which becomes effective when such person is no longer able to make decisions regarding his/her medical treatment.
Malpractice
improper or negligent professional act by a professional person.
Mental anguish
mental suffering resulting from grief, severe disappointment, indignation, wounded pride, shame, public humiliation, despair, etc., and may be accompanied by physical injury or by an outrageous intentional or grossly negligent act.
Moral turpitude
an act showing inherent baseness or vileness of principle or action; shameful wickedness; depravity.
Mortuary law
that branch of law which relates to matters concerned with the disposal of the dead and regulation of funeral directors/embalmers and funeral establishments.
Mutilation
any alteration or change made to a dead human body from the time of death, other than by natural causes.
Negligence
failure to exercise ordinary care; omission to do something which a reasonable prudent person would do under ordinary or similar circumstances or the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent person would not do; the lack of due care (exercised by a wrongdoer who has not acted as a reasonable person would).
Nuncupative will
oral will declared or dictated by testator during last illness before appropriate witnesses to dispose of personal property and afterwards reduced to writing (not valid in all states).
Ordinance
a law passed by a local municipal governing body (e.g., zoning, building, safety, etc.).
Outrageous act
an act with complete disregard for proper conduct which transcends the bounds of common decency.
Per capita
the method of dividing an estate by which an equal share is given to each of a number of persons, all of whom stand in equal degree of kindred to the decedent.
Personal representative
person who represents and administers the estate of deceased persons; executor and/or administrator of an estate.
Per stirpes
the method of proportionately dividing an estate between beneficiaries according to their deceased ancestor’s share.
Police power
the inherent power of every government to make reasonable laws to protect the safety, health, morals and general welfare of its citizens.
Power of attorney
an instrument granting someone authority to act as agent or attorney-in-fact for the grantor; an ordinary power of attorney is revocable and automatically terminates upon the death or incapacity of the principal.
Precedent
a decision of a higher court (e.g., appellate or supreme court) which is thereafter followed as an example in subsequent similar cases.
Preferred claim
a claim which is accorded a priority, advantage or privilege; a superior claim or right of payment as against another of the same kind or class. The first claim to be paid is the highest preferred claim and superior to all other claims.
Priority
the order in which claims will be paid when there are insufficient assets to pay all of the claims , or the order in which certain classes of people have the right to make decisions concerning the disposition of the dead body
Probate
the process of preserving the estate, determining the validity of a will and distributing the estate to the proper heirs.
Probate court
a court having jurisdiction over estates.
Probate estate
the property of a decedent that is subject to administration by the executor or administrator of an estate.
Quasi contract
a fictional contract created or implied by a court for a person who is unable to contract for himself (e.g., medical care, death); an obligation which law creates in the absence of agreement; is invoked by courts where there is unjust enrichment.
Quasi-property theory
the accepted theory of the legal status of a dead human body; rights associated with the body are as if it were property for the purpose of disposition only.
Replevin
an action to recover possession of wrongfully withheld personal property.
