Glossary Terms G - I

Garnishment: A legal proceeding in which a debtor's money, in the possession of another (called the garnishee), is applied to the debts of the debtor, such as when an employer garnishes a debtor's wages.

General Jurisdiction: Refers to courts that have no limit on the types of criminal and civil cases they may hear.

Good Time: A reduction in sentenced time in prison as a reward for good behavior. It usually is one third to one half off the maximum sentence.

Grand Jury: A body of persons sworn to inquire into crime and if appropriate, bring accusations (indictments) against the suspected criminals.

Grantor or Settlor: The person who sets up a trust.

Gross Negligence: Intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences to another person's life or property. There is no clear distinction between gross negligence and willful negligence.

Guardian: A person appointed by will or by law to assume responsibility for incompetent adults or minor children. If a parent dies, this will usually be the other parent. If both die, it probably will be a close relative.

Guardianship: Legal right given to a person to be responsible for the food, housing, health care, and other necessities of a person deemed incapable of providing these necessities for himself or herself. A guardian also may be given responsibility for the person's financial affairs, and thus perform additionally as a conservator. (See also conservatorship.)

 Habeas Corpus: A writ commanding that a person be brought before a judge. Most commonly, a writ of habeas corpus is a legal document that forces law enforcement authorities to produce a prisoner they are holding and to legally justify his or her confinement.

Harmless Error: An error committed during a trial that was corrected or was not serious enough to affect the outcome of a trial and therefore was not sufficiently harmful (prejudicial) to be reversed on appeal.

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): A type of managed health care system that contracts with medical facilities, physicians, employers, and sometimes individuals to provide medical care to a group of people known as "members." Generally, members of HMOs don't have any significant "out-of-pocket" expenses because the medical care is most often paid for by an employer at a fixed price per patient.

Hearing: A proceeding usually without a jury.

Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.

Hemorrhagic Stroke: Occurs when an artery in the brain tears or bursts, causing blood to spill out.

HMO Negligence: Generally, a type of medical malpractice that can be defined as the carelessness of an HMO, acting through its physicians, in making treatment decisions for a member that results in injury to that member.

Homeowner's Insurance: Policy that insures individuals against any, some, or all of the risks of loss to personal dwellings or the contents of personal dwellings or the personal liability pertaining to personal dwellings.

Hostile Witness: A witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party who calls him or her as a witness. A hostile witness may be asked leading questions and may be cross-examined by the party who calls him or her to the stand.

Hung Jury: A jury whose members cannot agree upon a verdict.

Hurt on the Job: In order to establish a right to workers' compensation benefits, there must be an employment relationship during which an accident or an injury arises in the course of employment and is related thereto, and includes aggravation, reactivation, acceleration or death resulting from the injury.

Immunity: Grant by the court, which assures someone will not face prosecution in return for providing criminal evidence.

Impaneling: Selecting a jury from the list of potential jurors.

Impeach: Attacking the credibility of a witness.

Impeachment of a Witness: An attack on the credibility (believability) of a witness, through evidence introduced for that purpose.

Incarcerate: To confine in jail.

Initial Appearance: The initial appearance of an arrested person before a judge to determine whether or not there is probable cause for his or her arrest. Generally the person comes before a judge within hours of the arrest.

Inadmissible: That which, under the rules of evidence, cannot be admitted or received as evidence.

In Camera: In a judge's chambers; in private.

In Camera Inspection: Judge's private inspection of a document prior to his or her ruling on its admissibility or use at trial.

In Camera Proceedings. Trial or proceeding in a place not open to the public, usually in a judge's chambers.

Indemnify: To restore the victim of a loss, either in whole or in part, by payment of money or repair or replacement of the thing lost.

Indeterminate Sentence: A sentence of imprisonment to a specified minimum and maximum period of time, specifically authorized by statute, subject to termination by a parole board or other authorized agency after the prisoner has served the minimum term.

Indictment: A written accusation by a grand jury charging a person with a crime.

Indigent: Needy or impoverished. A defendant who can demonstrate his or her indigence to the court may be assigned a court-appointed attorney at public expense.

Information: Accusatory document, filed by the prosecutor, detailing the charges against the defendant. An alternative to an indictment, it serves to bring a defendant to trial.

Informed Consent: Person's agreement to allow something to happen, such as a medical procedure, that is based on full disclosure of the facts necessary to make an intelligent decision.

In Forma Pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.

Infraction: A violation of law not punishable by imprisonment. Minor traffic offenses generally are considered infractions.

Inheritance Tax: A state tax on property that an heir or beneficiary under a will receives from a deceased person's estate. The heir or beneficiary pays this tax.

Initial Appearance: In criminal law, the hearing at which a judge determines whether there is sufficient evidence against a person charged with a crime to hold him or her for trial. The Constitution bans secret accusations, so initial appearances are public unless the defendant asks otherwise; the accused must be present, though he or she usually does not offer evidence. Also calledfirst appearance.

Injunction: Writ or order by a court prohibiting a specific action from being carried out by a person or group. A preliminary injunction is granted provisionally, until a full hearing can be held to determine if it should be made permanent.

In Propria Persona: In court's it refers to persons who present their own case without lawyers. See Pro Se.

Instructions: Judge's explanation to the jury before it begins deliberations of the questions it must answer and the applicable law governing the case. Also called charge.

Intangible Assets: Nonphysical items such as stock certificates, bonds, bank accounts, and pension benefits that have value and must be taken into account in estate planning.

Intentional Inflication of Emotional Distress: - Intentionally causing severe emotional distress by extreme or outrageous conduct.

Interlocutory: Provisional; not final. An interlocutory order or an interlocutory appeal concerns only a part of the issues raised in a lawsuit.

Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party in a lawsuit for which the opposing party must provide written answers.

Intervention: An action by which a third person who may be affected by a lawsuit is permitted to become a party to the suit. Differs from the process of becoming an amicus curiae.

Inter Vivos Gift: A gift made during the giver's life.

Inter Vivos Trust: Another name for a living trust.

Intestacy Laws: See descent and distribution statutes.

Intestate: Dying without a will.

Intestate Succession: The process by which the property of a person who has died without a will passes on to others according to the state's descent and distribution statutes. If someone dies without a will, and the court uses the state’s interstate succession laws, an heir who receives some of the deceased's property is an intestate heir.

Invitee: A person is an invitee on land if he enters land by invitation; his entry is connected with business being conducted on the land by the possessor of land; and the possessor of land is benefited by the entry.

Irrevocable Trust: A trust that, once set up, the grantor may not revoke.


Issue: (1) The disputed point in a disagreement between parties in a lawsuit. (2) To send out officially, as in to issue an order.

top of page Return to Glossary