Fair Market Value: The hypothetical most probable price that could be obtained for a property by average, informed purchasers. See the complete Legal Definition of Fair Market Value
Fee Simple: The most extensive tenure allowed under the intestate. In many common law jurisdictions, land is held in fee simple: as close as one can get to absolute ownership. See the complete Legal Definition of Fee Simple
Fee Tail: A form of ownership which passes onto successive lineal descendants of the owner. See the complete Legal Definition of Fee Tail
Felony: A serious crime for which the traditional punishment is prison for more than a year, or death. See the complete Legal Definition of Felony
Feudal System: A social structure that existed throughout much of Europe between 800 and 1400 and that revolved around a multi-level hierarchy between lords (who held land granted under tenure from the king), and their tenants (also called 'vassals'). See the complete Legal Definition of Feudal System
Fiduciary: A legal duty of loyalty and faithfulness towards another. See the complete Legal Definition of Fiduciary
Fieri Facias: A legal proceeding which commands a sheriff to take and sell enough property from the person who lost a law suit, to pay the debt owed by the judgment. See the complete Legal Definition of Fieri Facias
Force Majeure: French for an act of God; an inevitable, unpredictable act of nature, not dependent on an act of man. See the complete Legal Definition of Force Majeure
Foreclosure: To eliminate a right of redemption on mortgaged real property. See the complete Legal Definition of Foreclosure
Fraud: Deceitful or deceptive conduct designed to manipulate another person to give something of value. See the complete Legal Definition of Fraud
Fugitive: One who runs away to avoid arrest, prosecution or imprisonment. See the complete Legal Definition of Fugitive
Functus Officio: Latin: an officer or agency whose mandate has expired either because of the arrival of an expiry date or because an agency has accomplished the purpose for which it was created.
See the complete Legal Definition of Functus Officio
Fungibles: Standard commercial moveable things that are sold by measure, number or weight. See the complete Legal Definition of Fungibles
Furiosi Nulla Voluntas Est: Latin: mentally impaired persons cannot validly sign a will. See the complete Legal Definition of Furiosi Nulla Voluntas Est
Freehold: Use of real estate for an indeterminate time. See the complete Legal Definition of Freehold
Flesch Reading Ease Test: A legalese test against which insurance contracts are assessed. See the complete Legal Definition of Flesch Reading Ease Test
First Amendment: The amendment to the US Constitution which sets out freedom of expression. See the complete Legal Definition of First Amendment
Fifth Amendment: A US Constitution article which provides fundamental rights in regards to legal process such as the immunity in regards to self incrimination. See the complete Legal Definition of Fifth Amendment
Fourth Amendment: US constitutional protection against unreasonable search or arrest. See the complete Legal Definition of Fourth Amendment
Forfeiture: Seizure of private property because it was illegally obtained, is an illegal substance or the legal basis for possession has ended. See the complete Legal Definition of Forfeiture
Frankpledge: A community pledge in medieval England whereby a defined number of people were jointly held responsible for the denunciation of any crime within their group. See the complete Legal Definition of Frankpledge
Freight: The money paid by a person for the transportation of goods. See the complete Legal Definition of Freight
Falsa Demonstratio Non Nacet: A wrong description of an item in a legal document (such as a will) will not necessarily void the gift if it can be determined from other facts. See the complete Legal Definition of Falsa Demonstratio Non Nacet
Fiat: A shortly-worded and short-form, often truncated, Court order. See the complete Legal Definition of Fiat
Fraudulent Conveyance: A transfer of an interest in property done with intent to defeat creditors or others of their just and lawful entitlements. See the complete Legal Definition of Fraudulent Conveyance
Friendly Society: A form of corporate structure in the United Kingdom for the conduct of life or health insurance, pension fund or education-related business. See the complete Legal Definition of Friendly Society
Federalism: A system of government which has created, by written agreement, a central and national government to which it has distributed specified legislative (law-making) powers, and called the federal government, and regional governments (or sometimes called provinces or states) governments to which is distributed other, specified legislative powers. See the complete Legal Definition of Federalism
Fascism: A form of government which is authoritarian, oppressively conservative, who believe in the supremacy of the stated national group, and which, at least initially, purports to vest law-making and administrative authority in the hands of workers or their organizations. See the complete Legal Definition of Fascism
Fixtures: A chattel which has become real property by having been affixed thereto. See the complete Legal Definition of Fixtures
Fair Comment: A comment made which though defamatory, is not actionable as it is an opinion on a matter of public interest. See the complete Legal Definition of Fair Comment
Flotsam: Things found floating on the sea, issue from a ship that has been lost. See the complete Legal Definition of Flotsam
F.O.B.: Acronym for 'free on board'; a contract whereby the seller of goods agrees to absorb the costs of delivering the goods to the purchaser's transporter of choice. See the complete Legal Definition of F.O.B.
Fourteenth Amendment: A 1868, post-USA civil war amendment to the US Constitution designed to, inter alia, give full civil and legal rights to former slaves. See the complete Legal Definition of Fourteenth Amendment
Fiqh: The law of Islam. Also spelled fikh. See the complete Legal Definition of Fiqh
Ferae Naturae: Latin: wild in nature; usually in reference to animals such as monkeys or lions. See the complete Legal Definition of Ferae Naturae
Forgery: The making of a false document knowing it to be false with intent that it should be used or acted on as genuine to the prejudice of another. See the complete Legal Definition of Forgery
Fault: A breach of duty or negligence and, in some circumstances, the errors or omissions of others or of things under a person's control. See the complete Legal Definition of Fault
Furtum: Latin: theft or a thing stolen.. See the complete Legal Definition of Furtum
Fair Dealing: A limited exception to the exclusivity of intellectual property allowing fair critique or private study use of the protected material, and with appropriate acknowledgement. See the complete Legal Definition of Fair Dealing
Fair Use: A statutory exemption to copyright for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. See the complete Legal Definition of Fair Use
Formal Reciprocity: A form of international agreement wherein the signatories agree to give each other's citizens and corporations legal treatment no less favourable to that given to their own citizens and corporations. See the complete Legal Definition of Formal Reciprocity
Flotilla Principle: A method of calculating the ceiling of liability in the event of loss while ships are under tow, using the tonnage of all ships in the flotilla. See the complete Legal Definition of Flotilla Principle
False: An intentional or accidental untruth. See the complete Legal Definition of False
Freedom of Contract: That men and women have the liberty of contracting as they see fit with the expectation that those contracts will be judicially enforced if necessary, subject only to public policy. See the complete Legal Definition of Freedom of Contract
Fence: A structure which encloses real property, wholly or partially, to impede entry and exit. See the complete Legal Definition of Fence
Firefighters' Rule: Public safety officers have no claim for injuries suffered during the performance of their duties on the premises of a hazard, even if intentionally created. See the complete Legal Definition of Firefighters' Rule
Freedom of Expression: Freedom to communicate ideas without restraint, whether orally or in print or by other means of communication. See the complete Legal Definition of Freedom of Expression
Frustration: The inability to complete a contract because the object of it has been lost or fundamentally changed. See the complete Legal Definition of Frustration
Forage: The act of searching for provisions. See the complete Legal Definition of Forage
Forum Conveniens: The court or forum most suitable for the ends of justice. See the complete Legal Definition of Forum Conveniens
Forward Contract: An agreement to buy or sell a specified thing at a fixed price at some future date. See the complete Legal Definition of Forward Contract
Fuck: To denunciate something, or a general swear word without necessarily referring to sex. See the complete Legal Definition of Fuck
Fee: A legal right in land; or a money payment to purchase a service or a right. See the complete Legal Definition of Fee
Facilitate: To make easy or less difficult. See the complete Legal Definition of Facilitate
Fishing Expedition: A speculative demand for information without any real expectation about the outcome of the demand or its relevance to the litigation. See the complete Legal Definition of Fishing Expedition
Faint Hope Clause: Canada criminal law: a term in a 25 year prison term that salvages a remote possibility that the individual may be paroled prior to the full completion of the term of incarceration. See the complete Legal Definition of Faint Hope Clause
Felonious Homicide: The killing of a human being without justification or excuse. See the complete Legal Definition of Felonious Homicide
Franchise: A licensing contract in which a holder of certain legal rights gives another to sell or package those rights. See the complete Legal Definition of Franchise
Franchisor: The legal rights holder who licenses, in whole or in part, those legal rights to another pursuant to a franchise agreement. See the complete Legal Definition of Franchisor
Franchisee: The person who receives, for consideration, the license to right to sell a product or service and to operate a business along the lines developed by the franchisor and using the franchisor's trade name or other designation. See the complete Legal Definition of Franchisee
Federal Paramountcy: A doctrine of constitutional law which gives priority to the application of a federal statute where those terms conflict with the operation of a provincial statute. See the complete Legal Definition of Federal Paramountcy
False Arrest: The intentional and total confinement of a person against his will without lawful justification. See the complete Legal Definition of False Arrest
False Imprisonment: Intentional and total imprisonment of a person against his or her will and without lawful justification. See the complete Legal Definition of False Imprisonment
Fool: A human being in form but destitute of reason from birth. See the complete Legal Definition of Fool
Folstein MMSE: Summary exam used to test cognitive ability. See the complete Legal Definition of Folstein MMSE
Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum: Latin: do justice though the heavens fall. See the complete Legal Definition of Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum