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T.R.O.
n. legal slang for temporary restraining order.
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tainted evidence
n. in a criminal trial, information which has been obtained by illegal means or has been traced through evidence acquired by illegal search and/or seizure. This evidence is called "fruit of the poisonous tree" and is not admissible in court.
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take
v. to gain or obtain possession, including the receipt of a legacy from an estate, getting title to real property or stealing an object.
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taking the Fifth
n. the refusal to testify on the ground that the testimony might tend to incriminate the witness in a crime, based on the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that "No person?shall be compelled to be a witness against himself," applied to state courts by the 14th Amendment. The term became famous during televised Senate committee hearings on organized crime in 1951, when a series of crime bosses "took the Fifth.
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tangible property
n. physical articles (things) as distinguished from "incorporeal" assets such as rights, patents, copyrights and franchises. Commonly tangible property is called "personalty.
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tax
n. a governmental assessment (charge) upon property value, transactions (transfers and sales), licenses granting a right and/or income. These include federal and state income taxes, county and city taxes on real property, state and/or local sales tax based on a percentage of each retail transaction, duties on imports from foreign countries, business licenses, federal tax (and some states' taxes) on the estates of persons who have died, taxes on large gifts and a state "use" tax in lieu of sales tax imposed on certain goods bought outside of the state.
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tax costs
n. a motion to contest a claim for court costs submitted by a prevailing party in a lawsuit. It is called a "Motion to Tax Costs" and asks the judge to deny or reduce claimed costs. Example: a winning party claims a right to have his/her attorneys' fees and telephone bills paid by the loser, even though they are not allowable as costs under state law or the contract which was the subject of the suit. So the loser makes a "Motion to Tax Costs" to avoid paying these charges.
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Tax Court
n. a federal agency with courts in major cities which hear taxpayers' appeals from decisions of the Internal Revenue Service. Tax court hears the appeal de novo (as a trial rather than an appeal) and does not require payment of the amount claimed by the IRS before hearing the case. Tax court decisions may be appealed to the Federal District Court of Appeals.
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tax evasion
n. intentional and fraudulent attempt to escape payment of taxes in whole or in part. If proved to be intentional and not just an error or difference of opinion, tax evasion can be a chargeable federal crime. Evasion is distinguished from attempts to use interpretation of tax laws and/or imaginative accounting to reduce the amount of payable tax.
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tax return
n. the form to be filed with a taxing authority by a taxpayer which details his/her/their income, expenses, exemptions, deductions and calculation of taxes which are chargeable to the taxpayer.
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tax sale
n. an auction sale of a taxpayer's property conducted by the federal government to collect unpaid taxes.
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temporary injunction
n. a court order prohibiting an action by a party to a lawsuit until there has been a trial or other court action. A temporary injunction differs from a "temporary restraining order" which is a short-term, stop-gap injunction issued pending a hearing, at which time a temporary injunction may be ordered to be in force until trial. The purpose of a temporary injunction is to maintain the status quo and prevent irreparable damage or change before the legal questions are determined. After the trial the court may issue a "permanent injunction" (making the temporary injunction a lasting rule) or "dissolve" (cancel) the temporary injunction.
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temporary insanity
n. in a criminal prosecution, a defense by the accused that he/she was briefly insane at the time the crime was committed and therefore was incapable of knowing the nature of his/her alleged criminal act. Temporary insanity is claimed as a defense whether or not the accused is mentally stable at the time of trial. One difficulty with a temporary insanity defense is the problem of proof, since any examination by psychiatrists had to be after the fact, so the only evidence must be the conduct of the accused immediately before or after the crime. It is similar to the defenses of "diminished capacity" to understand one's own actions, the so-called "Twinkie defense," the "abuse excuse," "heat of passion" and other claims of mental disturbance which raise the issue of criminal intent based on modern psychiatry and/or sociology. However, mental derangement at the time of an abrupt crime, such as a sudden attack or crime of passion, can be a valid defense or at least show lack of premeditation to reduce the degree of the crime.
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tenancy
n. the right to occupy real property permanently, for a time which may terminate upon a certain event, for a specific term, for a series of periods until cancelled (such as month-to-month), or at will (which may be terminated at any time). Some tenancy is for occupancy only as in a landlord-tenant situation, or a tenancy may also be based on ownership of title to the property.
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tenancy at sufferance
n. a "hold-over" tenancy after a lease has expired but before the landlord has demanded that the tenant quit (vacate) the premises. During a tenancy at sufferance the tenant is bound by the terms of the lease (including payment of rent) which existed before it expired. The only difference between a "tenancy at sufferance" and a "tenancy at will" is that the latter was created by agreement.
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tenancy at will
n. occupation of real property owned by another until such time as the landlord gives notice of termination of the tenancy (usually 30 days by state law or agreement), which may be given at any time. A tenancy at will is created by agreement between the tenant and the landlord, but it cannot be transferred by the tenant to someone else since the landlord controls the right to occupy.
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tenancy by the entirety
n. joint ownership of title by husband and wife, in which both have the right to the entire property, and, upon the death of one, the other has title (right of survivorship). Tenancy by the entirety is used in many states and is analogous to "community property" in the seven states which recognize that type of property ownership.
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tenancy in common
n. title to property (usually real property, but it can apply to personal property) held by two or more persons, in which each has an "undivided interest" in the property and all have an equal right to use the property, even if the percentage of interests are not equal or the living spaces are different sizes. Unlike "joint tenancy," there is no "right of survivorship" if one of the tenants in common dies, and each interest may be separately sold, mortgaged or willed to another. Thus, unlike a joint tenancy interest, which passes automatically to the survivor, upon the death of a tenant in common there must be a probate (court supervised administration) of the estate of the deceased to transfer the interest (ownership) in the tenancy in common.
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tenant
n. a person who occupies real property owned by another based upon an agreement between the person and the landlord/owner, almost always for rental payments.
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tender
1) v. to present to another person an unconditional offer to enter into a contract. 2) v. to present payment to another. 3) n. delivery, except that the recipient has the choice not to accept the tender. However, the act of tender completes the responsibility of the person making the tender.
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tenement
n. 1) a term found in older deeds or in boiler-plate deed language which means any structure on real property. 2) old run-down urban apartment buildings with several floors reached by stairways.
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tentative trust
n. a bank account deposited in the name of the depositor "in trust for" someone else, which is a tentative trust until the death of the depositor since the money can be withdrawn at any time.
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tenure
n. 1) in real property, the right to possess the property. 2) in employment contracts, particularly of public employees like school teachers or professors, a guaranteed right to a job (barring substantial inability to perform or some wrongful act) once a probationary period has passed.
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term
n. 1) in contracts or leases, a period of time, such as five years, in which a contract or lease is in force. 2) in contracts, a specified condition or proviso. 3) a period for which a court sits or a legislature is in session. 4) a word or phrase for something, as "tenancy" is one term for "occupancy.
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testacy
n. dying with a will (a testament). It is compared to "intestacy," which is dying without a will.
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testamentary
adj. pertaining to a will.
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testamentary capacity
n. having the mental competency to execute a will at the time the will was signed and witnessed. To have testamentary capacity, the author of the will must understand the nature of making a will, have a general idea of what he/she possesses, and know who are members of the immediate family or other "natural objects of his/her bounty." Inherent in that capacity is the ability to resist the pressures or domination of any person who may try to use undue influence on the distribution of the testator's (will writer's) estate.
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testamentary disposition
n. how the terms of a will divide the testator's (will writer's) estate, including specific gifts to named beneficiaries.
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testamentary trust
n. a trust created by the terms of a will. Example: "The residue of my estate shall form the corpus (body) of a trust, with the executor as trustee, for my children's health and education, which shall terminate when the last child attains the age of 25, when the remaining corpus and any accumulated profits shall be divided among my then living children." A testamentary trust differs from an "inter vivos" or "living" trust, which comes into being during the lifetime of the creator of the trust (called trustor, settlor or donor), usually from the time the declaration of trust is signed.
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testator
n. a person who has written a will which is in effect at the time of his/her death.
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Legal Dictionary
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