FS Law Glossary Exam 1 Flashcards
(198 cards)
1
Q
Abatement
A
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
2
Q
Actual custody
A
the physical possession of the dead human body or other property.
3
Q
Ademption
A
the extinction or withdrawal of an inheritance because the decedent did not own the named property at the time of death.
4
Q
Administrative agency
A
a governmental body created by legislation empowered to regulate and issue rules and regulations.
5
Q
Administrative law
A
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).
6
Q
Administrator/ Administratrix
A
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)
7
Q
Agent driver
A
those drivers under the directions and control of the funeral establishment which is liable for the driver’s negligent actions
8
Q
Apprenticeship (internship/resident training)
A
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.
9
Q
Bailee
A
a person who receives personal property from another as a bailment.
10
Q
Bailment
A
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
11
Q
Bailor
A
a person who delivers personal property to another as a bailment.
12
Q
Bequest (legacy)
A
a gift of personal property by will.
13
Q
Building code
A
laws, ordinances and government regulations setting forth requirements for construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of buildings.
14
Q
Cadaver
A
a dead human body intended solely for scientific study and dissection.
15
Q
Case law
A
appellate court decisions that establish precedential principles.
16
Q
Codicil
A
an addition or amendment of a last will and testament executed with the same formality of the will.
17
Q
Common law
A
non legislated principles and rules of action predicated upon usages and customs which the court considers binding on the community.
18
Q
Constitution
A
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.
19
Q
Contract
A
an agreement between two or more competent persons which is enforceable by law.
20
Q
Constructive custody
A
the situation whereby one party has a right to acquire actual custody/possession of the dead body although another party has actual physical possession.
21
Q
Corpse (dead human body)
A
the body of a dead human being, deprived of life, but not yet entirely disintegrated.
22
Q
Custodian
A
status associated with funeral service practitioner/funeral establishment who becomes legal protector of dead human body from time of removal until final disposition.
23
Q
Degree of kindred
A
relationship to decedent of his relatives; each generation is one degree, counting to a common ancestor.
24
Q
Devise
A
a gift of real estate; the act/process of transferring ownership of real property. (Devise applies to both transfers as well as by wills.)
25
Devisee
the person who receives real property through the process of a devise.
26
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.
27
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.
28
Escheat
forfeiture of a decedent's property to the state in the absence of heirs.
29
Estate
the property of a deceased person, both real and/or personal.
30
Estrangement
the physical and/or emotional separation for a period of time showing the lack of affection, trust and regard.
31
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)
32
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.
33
Final disposition
the conclusive performance of services with respect to the dead human body by one of 48 the legally recognized methods.
34
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.
35
Funeral establishment
a facility used in the care and preparation for the funeral and/or final disposition of dead human bodies.
36
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.
37
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.
38
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.
39
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.
40
Guardian
a judicial appointment of one person to administer the affairs of another person who is incompetent by virtue of age or legal disability.
41
Heir
one who inherits, or is entitled to receive property by will or by laws of intestacy.
42
Holographic will
a will written entirely by the hand of the testator/testatrix.
43
Householder
the occupier of a house; one who owns or controls real estate where a death occurs.
44
Inheritance
the estate which passes from the decedent to his/her heirs.
45
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.
46
Intestate succession
the method used to distribute property owned by a person who dies without a valid will
47
Inventory
listing and valuation of a decedent's assets by a personal representative of the estate.
48
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.
49
Kin
one's relatives collectively; referring to blood relationship (legally, the surviving spouse is not a kin).
50
Law
those rules of conduct commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
51
Legacy
a gift of personal property by will.
52
Legatee
one who inherits personal property under a will.
53
Liability
responsibility for actions and/or other debts; the quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable.
54
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).
55
Livery
automotive equipment made available for hire.
56
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.
57
Malpractice
improper or negligent professional act by a professional person.
58
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.
59
Moral turpitude
an act showing inherent baseness or vileness of principle or action; shameful wickedness; depravity.
60
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.
61
Mutilation
any alteration or change made to a dead human body from the time of death, other than by natural causes.
62
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).
63
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).
64
Ordinance
a law passed by a local municipal governing body (e.g., zoning, building, safety, etc.).
65
Outrageous act
an act with complete disregard for proper conduct which transcends the bounds of common decency.
66
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.
67
Personal representative
person who represents and administers the estate of deceased persons; executor and/or administrator of an estate.
68
Per stirpes
the method of proportionately dividing an estate between beneficiaries according to their deceased ancestor’s share.
69
Police power
the inherent power of every government to make reasonable laws to protect the safety, health, morals and general welfare of its citizens.
70
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.
71
Precedent
a decision of a higher court (e.g., appellate or supreme court) which is thereafter followed as an example in subsequent similar cases.
72
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.
73
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
74
Probate
the process of preserving the estate, determining the validity of a will and distributing the estate to the proper heirs.
75
Probate court
a court having jurisdiction over estates.
76
Probate estate
the property of a decedent that is subject to administration by the executor or administrator of an estate.
77
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.
78
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.
79
Replevin
an action to recover possession of wrongfully withheld personal property.
80
Revocation
the omission or cancellation of an instrument, act, license or promise.
81
Rules and regulations
enactments by an administrative body within the jurisdiction of that agency.
82
Soldiers and sailors will
a nuncupative will, informal in nature, in which a soldier in the field or sailor at sea may dispose of personal property only.
83
Solvent estate
an estate in which the assets exceed the liabilities.
84
Springing power of attorney
a written instrument authorizing one person to act as an agent for another effective only upon a certain event occurring.
85
Stare decisis
a policy of courts to stand by a precedent and apply it to all future cases where the facts are substantially the same; to stand by things decided.
86
Statute
a law enacted by a federal or state legislative body
87
Statutory law
law created by legislative bodies in contrast to law generated by judicial opinions (case law) and administrative bodies.
88
Testate
the condition of leaving a will at death.
89
Testator
a man who makes a valid will.
90
Testatrix
a woman who makes a valid will.
91
Third party contracts
agreements which involve the funeral director/funeral home because the family being served has contracted with someone else (a third party) for services or merchandise also available from the funeral home i.e. caskets, vaults, urns, pre-need insurance, etc.
92
Tort
a private or civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which there may be action for damages.
93
Trespasser
one who intentionally and without consent or privilege enters another’s property.
94
Trust Account
account established by one individual to be held for the benefit of another (as a method of payment of funeral expenses); creates a fiduciary responsibility. Money paid to a funeral home for future services is placed in an account with the funeral home as trustee for the benefit of another.
95
Trustee
one who holds title to property or another position of trust to a beneficiary; in funeral arrangements, the person who has the right to control the funeral does so on behalf of all survivors.
96
Uniform Probate Code (UPC)
a model law intended to achieve uniformity in probate proceedings throughout the U.S.
97
Volunteer driver
those drivers not under the control of the funeral director.
98
Will
an instrument executed with required formality, by persons making disposition of their property to take effect upon their death.
99
Zoning ordinance
a law passed by a municipality by virtue of the police power which regulates and prescribes the kind of building, residences, or businesses that shall be built and used in different parts of the municipality.
100
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
Abatement
101
the physical possession of the dead human body or other property.
Actual custody
102
the extinction or withdrawal of an inheritance because the decedent did not own the named property at the time of death.
Ademption
103
a governmental body created by legislation empowered to regulate and issue rules and regulations.
Administrative agency
104
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).
Administrative law
105
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)
Administrator/ Administratrix
106
those drivers under the directions and control of the funeral establishment which is liable for the driver's negligent actions
Agent driver
107
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.
Apprenticeship (internship/resident training)
108
a person who receives personal property from another as a bailment.
Bailee
109
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
Bailment
110
a person who delivers personal property to another as a bailment.
Bailor
111
a gift of personal property by will.
Bequest (legacy)
112
laws, ordinances and government regulations setting forth requirements for construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of buildings.
Building code
113
a dead human body intended solely for scientific study and dissection.
Cadaver
114
appellate court decisions that establish precedential principles.
Case law
115
an addition or amendment of a last will and testament executed with the same formality of the will.
Codicil
116
non legislated principles and rules of action predicated upon usages and customs which the court considers binding on the community.
Common law
117
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.
Constitution
118
an agreement between two or more competent persons which is enforceable by law.
Contract
119
the situation whereby one party has a right to acquire actual custody/possession of the dead body although another party has actual physical possession.
Constructive custody
120
the body of a dead human being, deprived of life, but not yet entirely disintegrated.
Corpse (dead human body)
121
status associated with funeral service practitioner/funeral establishment who becomes legal protector of dead human body from time of removal until final disposition.
Custodian
122
relationship to decedent of his relatives; each generation is one degree, counting to a common ancestor.
Degree of kindred
123
a gift of real estate; the act/process of transferring ownership of real property. (Devise applies to both transfers as well as by wills.)
Devise
124
the person who receives real property through the process of a devise.
Devisee
125
the attention reasonably expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a person who seeks to satisfy a legal requirement or to discharge an obligation.
Due diligence
126
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.
Durable power of attorney
127
forfeiture of a decedent's property to the state in the absence of heirs.
Escheat
128
the property of a deceased person, both real and/or personal.
Estate
129
the physical and/or emotional separation for a period of time showing the lack of affection, trust and regard.
Estrangement
130
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)
Executor/ Executrix
131
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.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
132
the conclusive performance of services with respect to the dead human body by one of 48 the legally recognized methods.
Final disposition
133
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 director (Funeral service practitioner)
134
a facility used in the care and preparation for the funeral and/or final disposition of dead human bodies.
Funeral establishment
135
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 law (mortuary law/mortuary jurisprudence)
136
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 service practitioner
137
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.
General power of attorney
138
the intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences as affecting the life or property of another.
Gross negligent act
139
a judicial appointment of one person to administer the affairs of another person who is incompetent by virtue of age or legal disability.
Guardian
140
one who inherits, or is entitled to receive property by will or by laws of intestacy.
Heir
141
a will written entirely by the hand of the testator/testatrix.
Holographic will
142
the occupier of a house; one who owns or controls real estate where a death occurs.
Householder
143
the estate which passes from the decedent to his/her heirs.
Inheritance
144
the condition of the estate of a deceased person which is unable to pay the debts of the decedent and/or the estate.
Insolvent estate
145
the method used to distribute property owned by a person who dies without a valid will
Intestate succession
146
listing and valuation of a decedent's assets by a personal representative of the estate.
Inventory
147
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.
Invitee
148
one's relatives collectively; referring to blood relationship (legally, the surviving spouse is not a kin).
Kin
149
those rules of conduct commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
Law
150
a gift of personal property by will.
Legacy
151
one who inherits personal property under a will.
Legatee
152
responsibility for actions and/or other debts; the quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable.
Liability
153
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).
Lien
154
automotive equipment made available for hire.
Livery
155
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.
Living will
156
improper or negligent professional act by a professional person.
Malpractice
157
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.
Mental anguish
158
an act showing inherent baseness or vileness of principle or action; shameful wickedness; depravity.
Moral turpitude
159
that branch of law which relates to matters concerned with the disposal of the dead and regulation of funeral directors/embalmers and funeral establishments.
Mortuary law
160
any alteration or change made to a dead human body from the time of death, other than by natural causes.
Mutilation
161
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).
Negligence
162
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).
Nuncupative will
163
a law passed by a local municipal governing body (e.g., zoning, building, safety, etc.).
Ordinance
164
an act with complete disregard for proper conduct which transcends the bounds of common decency.
Outrageous act
165
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.
Per capita
166
person who represents and administers the estate of deceased persons; executor and/or administrator of an estate.
Personal representative
167
the method of proportionately dividing an estate between beneficiaries according to their deceased ancestor’s share.
Per stirpes
168
the inherent power of every government to make reasonable laws to protect the safety, health, morals and general welfare of its citizens.
Police power
169
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.
Power of attorney
170
a decision of a higher court (e.g., appellate or supreme court) which is thereafter followed as an example in subsequent similar cases.
Precedent
171
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.
Preferred claim
172
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
Priority
173
the process of preserving the estate, determining the validity of a will and distributing the estate to the proper heirs.
Probate
174
a court having jurisdiction over estates.
Probate court
175
the property of a decedent that is subject to administration by the executor or administrator of an estate.
Probate estate
176
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 contract
177
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.
Quasi-property theory
178
an action to recover possession of wrongfully withheld personal property.
Replevin
179
the omission or cancellation of an instrument, act, license or promise.
Revocation
180
enactments by an administrative body within the jurisdiction of that agency.
Rules and regulations
181
a nuncupative will, informal in nature, in which a soldier in the field or sailor at sea may dispose of personal property only.
Soldiers and sailors will
182
an estate in which the assets exceed the liabilities.
Solvent estate
183
a written instrument authorizing one person to act as an agent for another effective only upon a certain event occurring.
Springing power of attorney
184
a policy of courts to stand by a precedent and apply it to all future cases where the facts are substantially the same; to stand by things decided.
Stare decisis
185
a law enacted by a federal or state legislative body
Statute
186
law created by legislative bodies in contrast to law generated by judicial opinions (case law) and administrative bodies.
Statutory law
187
the condition of leaving a will at death.
Testate
188
a man who makes a valid will.
Testator
189
a woman who makes a valid will.
Testatrix
190
agreements which involve the funeral director/funeral home because the family being served has contracted with someone else (a third party) for services or merchandise also available from the funeral home i.e. caskets, vaults, urns, pre-need insurance, etc.
Third party contracts
191
a private or civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which there may be action for damages.
Tort
192
one who intentionally and without consent or privilege enters another’s property.
Trespasser
193
account established by one individual to be held for the benefit of another (as a method of payment of funeral expenses); creates a fiduciary responsibility. Money paid to a funeral home for future services is placed in an account with the funeral home as trustee for the benefit of another.
Trust Account
194
one who holds title to property or another position of trust to a beneficiary; in funeral arrangements, the person who has the right to control the funeral does so on behalf of all survivors.
Trustee
195
a model law intended to achieve uniformity in probate proceedings throughout the U.S.
Uniform Probate Code (UPC)
196
those drivers not under the control of the funeral director.
Volunteer driver
197
an instrument executed with required formality, by persons making disposition of their property to take effect upon their death.
Will
198
a law passed by a municipality by virtue of the police power which regulates and prescribes the kind of building, residences, or businesses that shall be built and used in different parts of the municipality.
Zoning ordinance
