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assets by descent. The portion of an estate that passes to an heir and is sufficient to charge the heir with the decedent's specialty debts. Also termed assets per descent.

assets entre main See assets in hand under ASSET.

assets in hand The portion of an estate held by an executor or administrator for the payment of debts chargeable to the executor or administrator. - Also termed assets entre main; assets entre mains.

assets- in hand See ASSET

assets per descent See assets by descent.

assets per- descent See assets by descent under ASSET.

asseverate (a-sav-a-rayt), vb. To state solemnly or positively; to aver. See AVERMENT. - asseveration (a-sav-a-ray-shan), n.

assign (usu. pl.) See ASSIGNEE.

assign- 1. To convey; to transfer rights or property <the bank assigned the note to a thrift institution>. 2. To assert; to point out <the appellant assigned as errors two of the trial court's rulings>. See ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR.

assign dower To set out the legal description of a widow's share of her deceased husband's estate. See DOWER.

assignable Able to be assigned; transferable from one person to another, so that the transferee has the same rights as the transferor had <assignable right>. Cf. NEGOTIABLE.

assignable lease See LEASE.

assignation (as-ig-nay-shan), 1. Archaic. An appointment of a time and place to meet, esp. for engaging in illicit sex. 2. Eccles. law. A specific allegation in a detendant's counterpleading. 3. French law. A plaintiff's complaint; a writ of summons.

assignation house See DISORDERLY HOUSE.

assigned account An account receivable that is pledged to a bank or factor as security for a loan.

assigned account- See ACCOUNT.

assigned counsel An attorney appointed by the court to represent a person, usu. an indigent person. Also termed court-appointed attorney; court-appointed counsel; appointed counsel; appointed counsel.

assigned error See ERROR.

assigned error- An alleged error that occurred in a lower court and is pointed out in an appellate brief as grounds for reversal <appellants' two assigned errors appeared to the court to be harmless errors>. See ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR.

assigned risk One who is a poor risk for insurance but whom an insurance company is forced to insure because of state law. For example, an accident-prone driver is an aSSigned risk in a state with a compulsory motor-vehicle-insurance statute.

assigned risk. See RISK.

assigned wunsel See COUNSEL.

assignee (a-si-nee or as-a-nee). ne to whom property rights or powers are transferred by another. Use of the term is so widespread that it is difficult to ascribe positive meaning to it with any specificity. Courts recognize the protean nature of the term and are therefore often forced to look to the intent of the assignor and assignee in making the assignment rather than to the formality of the use of the term assignee - in defining rights and responsibilities. Also termed assign.

assignee ad interim An assignee appointed between the time of bankruptcy and the appointment of a regular assignee.

assignee clause A provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that prevented a litigant without diversity of citizenship from assigning a claim to another who did have the required diversity. In 1948 the assignee clause was replaced by 28 USCA § 1359, which denies federal jurisdiction when a party is improperly or collusively joined, by assignment or otherwise, merely to invoke jurisdiction.

assignee estoppel See ESTOPPEL.

assignee estoppel- The equitable doctrine that bars the assignee of a patent from contesting the patent's validity under some circumstances, as when the assignee seeks to avoid royalty payments, to void an assignment contract, or to mitigate damages related to the assignee's fraudulent acquisition of the patent. The doctrine prevents an assignee from simultaneously attacking and defending the validity of the same patent.

assignee for value An assignee who has paid for or otherwise given consideration for the assignment.

assigner See ASSIGNOR.

assignment 1. The transfer of rights or property <assignment of stock options>. 2. The rights or property so transferred<the aunt assigned those funds to her niece, who promptly invested the assignment in mutual funds>. "An assignment is a transfer or setting over of property, or of some right or interest therein, from one person to another; the term denoting not only the act of transfer, but also the instrument by which it is effected. In these senses the word is variously applied in law." Alexander M. Burrill, A Treatise on the Law and Practice of Voluntary Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors § 1, at I (James Avery Webb ed., 6th ed. 1894). "Negotiability differs from assignment, with which it has obvious affinities, in at least two respects. In the first place no notice need be given of the transfer of a negotiable instrument, and in the second place the transfer of such an instrument is not subject to equities. Thus whereas an assignor only transfers his rights subject to any defences which could be pleaded against him, a transfer of a negotiable instrument to someone in good faith passes a good title, free from any such defences. For instance a person who receives a cheque in good faith obtains a good title, even though the cheque may have been stolen. It is not, of course, any document which has the attributes of nego· tiability. Only those documents recognized by the custom of trade to be transferable by delivery (or endorsement) are negotiable. Other documents can only be transferred by assignment." P.S. Atiyah. An Introduction to the Law of Contract 278-79 (3d ed. 1981).

assignment by operation of law A transfer of a right or obligation as a necessary consequence of a change in legal status, regardless of the affected party's intent. For example, a right and a corresponding obligation may disappear if they vest in the same person, as might happen in a merger or acquisition.

assignment clause Oil & gas. See CHANGE-OF-OWNERSHIP CLAUSE.

Assignment Division The section of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that is responsible for recording assignments and other documents affecting title to patent and trademark applications, patents, and registrations.

assignment for the benefit of creditors Assignment of a debtor's property to another person in trust so as to consolidate and liquidate the debtor's assets for payment to creditors, any surplus being returned to the debtor.This procedure serves as a state-law substitute for federal bankruptcy proceedings. The debtor is not discharged from unpaid debts by this procedure since creditors do not agree to any discharge.

assignment for value An assignment given in exchange for consideration.

assignment in gross A transfer of a company's trademark separately from the goodwill of the business. Courts often hold that such an assignment passes nothing of value to the transferee. Also termed naked assignment. See ANTl-ASSIGNMENT-IN-GROSS RULE.

assignment of account An assignment that gives the assignee the right to funds in an account, usu. to satisfy a debt.

assignment of application 1. Patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's formal routing of a patent or trademark application to the examining group to which it appears to belong based on subject matter. 2. The transfer of the right to prosecute a patent or register a trademark . The assignee must show ownership in the property to be patented or registered and, if less than absolute, the extent of ownership. See 37 CFR § 3.73.

assignment of dower (dow-ar). The act of setting apart a widow's share of her deceased husband's real property.

assignment of dower- (dow-ar). See ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment of error A specification of the trial court's alleged errors on which the appellant relies in seeking an appellate court's reversal, vacation, or modification of an adverse judgment. PI. assignments of error. See ERROR. Cf. WRIT OF ERROR.

assignment of income See assignment of wages.

assignment- of income See assignment of wages under ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment of lease An assignment in which a lessee transfers the entire unexpired remainder of the lease term, as distinguished from a sublease transferring only a portion of the remaining term.

assignment of lease- See ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment of property See EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.

assignment of realty A transfer of a real-property interest that is less than a freehold. The term includes debt-security interests in land.

assignment of realty- See ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment of rights The transfer of rights, esp. contractual rights, from one party to another.

assignment of the floor Parliamentary law. The process by which the chair recognizes who is entitled to speak. 7. In litigation practice, a point that a litigant advances <the third assignment of error>.

assignment of wages A transfer of the right to collect wages from the wage earner to a creditor. Also termed assignment of income.

assignment of wages- See ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment pro tanto An assignment that results when an order is drawn on a third party and made payable from a particular fund that belongs to the drawer. The drawee becomes an assignee with respect to the drawer's interest in that fund.

assignment- pro tanto See ASSIGNMENT (2).

assignment-of-income doctrine Family law. The common-law principle that the person who has earned income is the person taxed on it, regardless of who receives the proceeds. Under this doctrine, future income assigned to another is taxable to the assignor. For example, in Lucas v. Earl, 281 U.S. 111,50 S.Ct. 241 (1930), the Court held that a husband who was the sole wage-earner could not assign to his wife half his income and then pay the federal income tax on only the unassigned part.

assignment-of-rents dause A mortgage provision or separate agreement that entitles the lender to collect rents from the mortgaged premises if the borrower defaults.

assignor (as-a-nor-or-a-si-nar-or-a-si-nor). One who transfers property rights or powers to another. - Also spelled assigner.

assignor estoppel See ESTOPPEL.

assignor estoppel- Estoppel barring someone who has assigned the rights to a patent from later attacking the patent's validity. Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. Co. v. Formica Insulation Co., 266 U.S. 342, 45 S.Ct. 117 (1924).o The doctrine was narrowed by Diamond Scientific Co. v. Ambico, Inc., 848 F,2d 1220 (Fed. Cir. 1988), 'in which the court held that in some circumstances equity may outweigh the public-policy reasons behind the estoppel doctrine.

Assimilative Crimes Act A federal statute proViding that state law applies to a crime committed within a federal enclave in that state (such as a reservation or military installation) if the crime is not punishable under federal law. 18 USCA § 13. This statute uses local laws as gap-fillers for federal criminal law.

assisa armorum (a-si-za-ahr-mor-am). [Law Latin "assize of arms"] Hist. A statute requiring the keeping of arms for the common defense. - Also termed assize ofarms. See Assize ofArms under ASSIZE (2).

assisa cadere (a-si-za kad-a-ree), vb. [Law Latin] Hist. To fail in the assize, as by being nonsuited.

assisa continuanda (a-si-za kan-tin-yoo-an-da) [Law Latin] Hist. A writ addressed to the justices of assize for the continuation of a case.

assisa de foresta (a-si-za-dee for-es-ta), [Law Latin "assize of the forest"] Hist. A statute concerning orders to be observed in the royal forest. Also termed ordinatio forestae; assisa forestae.

assisa de mensuris (a-si-za- dee men-s[y]oor-is), [Law Latin "assize of measures"] Hist. A common rule for weights and measures, established by Richard I in the eighth year of his reign.

assisa de morte antecessoris See assize of mort d 'ancestor under ASSIZE (6).

assisa de nocumento (a-si-za dee nok-ya-men-toh), n. [Law Latin "assize of nuisance"]. See assize of nuisance under ASSIZE (8).

assisa de utrum (a-si-za dee yoo-tram), n. [Law Latin "assize of utrum"] See ASSIZE UTRUM.

assisa forestae See ASSISA DE FORESTAE.

assisa friscae fortiae See assize offresh force under ASSIZE (7).

assisa mortis d'ancestoris (a-si-za mor-tis dan-ses-tor-is), n. [Law Latin] See assize of mort d'ancestor under ASSIZE (6).

assisa novae disseysinae (a-si-za noh-vee di-see-zin-ee), [Law Latin] See ASSIZE OF KOVEL DISSEISIN.

assisa panis et cerevisiae (a-si-za pan-is et ser-a-vish-ee-ee), n. [Law Latin "assize of bread and ale"] Hist. A statute passed in the 51st year of the reign of Henry III, regulating the sale of bread and ale. Also termed statute ofbread and ale.

assisa proroganda See DE ASSISA PROROGANDA.

assisa ultimae praesentationis (a-si-za -al-ti-mee-pree-zan-tay-shee-oh-nis-or-prez-an), n. [Law Latin] See assize of darrein presentment under ASSIZE (7).

assisa venalium (a-si-za-va-nay-lee-am), [Law Latin] Hist. The assize of salable commodities.

assise See ASSIZE.

assiser See ASSIZER.

assistance Civil law. Compensation for an effort to save a threatened vessel, cargo, or ship personnel at sea. Cf. NO CURE, NO PAY.

assistance of counsel Representation by a lawyer, esp. in a criminal case. The phrase in its modern uses derives from the Sixth Amendment: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." U.S. Const. amend. VI. See RIGHT TO COUNSEL.

assistance, writ of See WRIT OF ASSISTANCE.

Assistant Commissioner for Patents See commissioner for patents under COMMISSIONER.

Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks See commissioner for trademarks under COMMISSIONER.

assistant jurisdiction See JURISDICTION.

assistant jurisdiction The incidental aid provided by an equity court to a court of law when justice requires both legal and equitable processes and remedies. Also termed auxiliary jurisdiction.

Assistant United States Attorney See UNITED STATES ATTORNEY.

assisted conception The fertilization of a woman's egg with a man's sperm by some means other than sexual intercourse. See ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION; IN VITRO FERTILIZATION; GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER; ZYGOTE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER.

assisted reproductive technology Family law. Any medical means of aiding human reproduction, esp. through laboratory procedures. - Abbr. ART. Also termed assisted reproduction; assisted-reproductive therapy.

assisted self-determination See assisted suicide under SUICIDE.

assisted suicide See SUICIDE.

assisted suicide The intentional act of providing a person with the medical means or the medical knowledge to commit suicide. Also termed assisted self-determination; (when a doctor provides the means) physician-assisted suicide. Cf. EUTHANASIA.

assize (a-siz),1. A session of a court or council.

Assize of Arms An 1181 statute requiring every man to keep arms suitable to his station in life. See ASSISA ARMORUM.

assize of clarendon (klar-an-dan). A decree issued in 1166 by Henry II to the justices in eyre and sheriffs concerning criminal procedure . The Assize expanded the reach of the king's courts by asserting royal jurisdiction over serious crimes. See CO.NSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON.

assize of darrein presentment (dar-ayn pri-zent-mant), [fr. French dernier presentation "last presentment"] Hist. A writ allOWing a person with a right of advowson that had been disturbed by another claimant to have a jury determine who last had last presented a clerk to a benefice and then to allow that person to present again and to recover damages for interference. This was abolished by the Real Property Limitation Act of 1833 and was replaced by the quare impedit action. Also spelled darreign. Also termed darreign presentment; assize of last presentation; assisa ultimae praesentationis; assize de ultima presentatione. See ADVOWSON; QUARE IMP EDIT. "An assise of darrein presentment, or last presentation, lies when a man, or his ancestors, under whom he claims, have presented a clerk to a benefice, who is instituted; and afterwards upon the next avoidance a stranger presents a clerk. and thereby disturbs him that is the real patron. In which case the patron shall have this writ, directed to the sheriff to summon an assise or jury, to enquire who was the last patron that presented to the church now vacant, of which the plaintiff complains that he is deforced by the defendant: and, according as the assise determines that question, a writ shall issue to the bishop; to institute the clerk of that patron, in whose favour the determination is made, and also to give damages ...." 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws ofEng/and 245 (1768). "[Alt some time or another during his reign Henry gave a possessory action, the assize of darrein presentment, .. which stands to the writ of right of advowson in somewhat the same relation as that in which the novel disseisin stands to the writ of right for land. If the church is vacant and two persons are quarrelling about the advowson, it is very necessary that some provisional, some possessory judgment should be given .... The principle of the new assiz is,simply statad,this: he who presented last time,

assize of fresh force A writ available in urban areas to disseise another's land .This writ is so called because it was available only within the first 40 days after title accrued to the person seeking it. - Also termed assisa friscae fortiae.

assize of mort d'ancestor (mor[t] dan-ses-tar). An action for the recovery of land belonging to the claimant's ancestor . Mort d'ancestor was abolished in the early 19th century. - Also termed assisa mortis d'ancestoris; assisa de morte antecessoris.

assize of northampton A decree issued in 1176 by Henry II as an expansion and reissue of the Assize of Clarendon, instructing judges esp. on questions of tenure, relief, and dower. 3. The procedure provided for by such an enactment. 4. The court that hears cases involving that procedure. 5. A jury.

assize of novel disseisin A writ for a tenant who has been disseised of lands and tenements. This institution of English law flourished for about 300 years - from the 12th century to the 15th. It had become wholly obsolete by the mid-17th century. Also termed assisa novae disseysinae. "[Up to the 15th century,] 'assize of novel disseisin' was a series of perfectly plain words, as plain as the words 'proceeding in recent ejectment: which translate them into modern English, would be to us. Even to humble contemporaries whose linguistic horizons did not extend beyond English, the institution itself apart from its name was perfectly straightforward. It meant that if a freeholder of land was ejected from his property he could require the sheriff to set up ajury of twelve, have them go look at the land, and bring them before the king's justices when they next came to hold court in the county. The justices asked the jurors whether the freeholder had been illegally put out of his holding, as he complained, and if they said that he had then the court would restore the land to him at once." Donald W. Sutherland, The Assize of Novel Disseisin 1-2 (1973).

assize of nuisance A writ available to a landowner suffering from a nuisance on another's land; a writ to abate a nuisance. This writ also entitled a successful plaintiff to damages. Also termed assisa de nocumento. "The assize of nuisance. This was supplementary to the famous assize of novel disseisin which was limited to redressing any act of the defendant that interfered with the plaintiff's seisin of land. It was therefore useless if the injury to the plaintiff began wholly on the defendant's land (e.g., if he erected there a dam which diverted water from the plaintiff's land), for the injury was not a disseisin as there was no entry on the plaintiff's land. This gap was filled by the assize of nuisance as early as the thirteenth century. It extended both to injuries to servitudes stricto sensu and to common rights." P.H. Winfield, A Textbook of the Law of Tort § 130, at 443 (5th ed. 1950).