NALA CERTIFIED PARALEGAL EXAM TERMS AND
CONCEPTS
Estate administration - Answers -The process in which a decedent's personal
representative settles the affairs of the decedent's estate (collects assets, pays debts
and taxes, and distributes the remaining assets to heirs); the process is usually
overseen by a probate court.
inter vivos trust - Answers -A trust created by the grantor (settlor) and effective during
the grantor's lifetime—that is, a trust not established by a will.
Assault - Answers -Any word or action intended to make another person apprehensive
or fearful of immediate physical harm, a reasonably believable threat.
Battery - Answers -The intentional and offensive touching of another without lawful
justification.
Contributory Negligence - Answers -A theory in tort law under which a complaining
party's own negligence contributed to his or her injuries. This type of negligence is an
absolute bar to recover in some jurisdictions.
Comparative Negligence - Answers -A theory in tort law under which the liability for
injuries resulting from negligent acts is shared by all persons who were guilty of
negligence (including the injured party) on the basis of each person's proportionate
carelessness.
Negligence per se - Answers -An action or failure to act in violation of a statutory
requirement.
Strict Liability - Answers -Liability regardless of fault. In tort law, strict liability may be
imposed on a merchant who introduces into commerce a good that is so defective as to
be unreasonably dangerous.
Contract Validity Requirements - Answers -Agreement, Consideration, Contractual
Capacity, Legality
Agreement - Answers -A meeting of the minds, and a requirement for a valid contract. It
involves two distinct events: an offer to form a contract and the acceptance of that offer
by the offeree.
Offer - Answers -A promise or commitment to do or refrain from doing some specified
thing in the future.
Real Property - Answers -Immovable property consisting of land and the builds and
plant life thereon. Also known as real estate.
,Personal Property - Answers -Any property that is not real property. Generally, any
property that is movable or intangible is classified as this.
Fee Simple Absolute - Answers -Ownership rights entitling the holder to use, possess,
or dispose of the property however he or she chooses during his or her lifetime.
Eminent Domain - Answers -The power of a government to take land for public use from
private citizens for just compensation.
Easement - Answers -The right of a person to make limited use of another person's real
property without taking anything from the property.
Tenancy In Common - Answers -A form of co-ownership of property in which each party
owns an undivided interest that passes to his or her heirs after death.
Joint Tenancy - Answers -The joint ownership of property by two or more co-owners in
which each co-owner owns an undivided portion of the property. On the death of one of
the joint tenants, his or her interest automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant or
tenants.
Steps Involved in the Sale of Real Estate - Answers -Buyer's purchase offer, seller's
response, purchase and sale agreement, title examination and insurance, and closing.
Mortgage - Answers -A written instrument giving a creditor an interest in the debtor's
property as security for a debt.
Deed - Answers -A document by which title to property is transferred from one party to
another.
Lease - Answers -A contractual agreement under which a property owner (the lessor)
agrees to rent their property to another (the lessee) for a specific time period.
Risk - Answers -A prediction concerning potential loss based on known and unknown
factors.
Risk Management - Answers -Planning that is undertaken to reduce the risk of loss from
known and unknown events. In the context of insurance, this involves transferring
certain risks from the insured to the insurance company.
Guardian ad litem - Answers -A person appointed by the court to represent the interests
of a child or a mentally incompetent person before the court.
Property Settlement - Answers -A division of property between spouses on the
termination of a marriage.
,Marital Property - Answers -All property acquired during the course of a marriage, apart
from inheritances and gifts made to one or the other of the spouses.
Separate Property - Answers -Property that a spouse owned before the marriage, plus
inheritances and gifts acquired by the spouse during the marriage.
Community Property - Answers -In certain states, all property acquired during a
marriage, except for inheritances or gifts received during the marriage by either marital
partner. Each partner has a one-half ownership interest in this type of property.
Prenuptial Agreement - Answers -A contract formed between two persons who are
contemplating marriage to provide for the disposition of property in the event of a
divorce or death of one of the spouses after they have married.
Estate-planning process - Answers -Wills and Trusts
Will - Answers -Final declaration of how a person wishes to have his or her property
disposed of after death.
Testator - Answers -One who makes a valid will.
Testate - Answers -The condition of having died with a valid will.
Intestate - Answers -The state of having died without a valid will.
Intestacy Laws - Answers -State statutes that specify how property will be distributed
when a person dies intestate.
Executor - Answers -A person appointed by a testator to serve as a personal
representative on the testator's death.
Administrator - Answers -A person appointed by a court to serve as a personal
representative for a person who died intestate, who made a will but failed to name an
executor, or whose executor cannot serve.
Probate - Answers -To prove and validate a will; the process of proving and validating a
will and settling matters pertaining to the administration of a decedent's estate,
guardianship of a decedent's children, and similar matters.
Requirements for a Valid Will - Answers -Testamentary capacity, must be in writing,
must be signed by testator, must be witnessed, and must be published (in some states).
Trust - Answers -An arrangement in which property is transferred by one person (the
grantor, or settlor) to another (the trustee) for the benefit of a third party (the
beneficiary).
, Testamentary Trust - Answers -A trust that is created by will and that does not take
effect until the death of the testator.
Sole Proprietorship - Answers -The simplest form of business in which one person owns
the business.
Advantages to Sole Proprietorships - Answers -Entitled to all the profits made by the
firm, free to make decisions concerning the business, allowed to establish tax-exempt
retirement accounts.
Disadvantages of Sole Proprietorships - Answers -Owner is personally liable for any
losses, debts, and obligations incurred by the business enterprise, may be difficult to
obtain capital for expansion.
Partnership - Answers -Two or more individuals who undertake to do business together.
Joint Liability - Answers -Shared liability in partnership law, partners incur this for
partnership obligations and debts.
Joint and Several Liability - Answers -Shared and individual liability. In partnership law,
this means that a third party may sue all of the partners or one or more of the partners
separately. This is true even if one of the partners sued did not participate in, ratify, or
know about whatever gave rise to the cause of action.
Limited Partnership - Answers -A partnership consisting of one or more general partners
and one or more limited partners.
General Partner - Answers -A partner who participates in managing the business of a
partnership and has all the rights and liabilities that arise under traditional partnership
law.
Limited Partner - Answers -One who invests in a limited partnership but does not play
an active role in managing the operation of the business. Unlike general partners, these
are only liable for partnership debts up to the amounts that they have invested.
Shareholder - Answers -One who has an ownership interest in a corporation through the
purchase of corporate shares, or stock.
Share - Answers -A unit of stock; a measure of ownership interest in a corporation.
Director - Answers -A person elected by the shareholder to direct corporate affairs.
Officer - Answers -A person hired by corporate directors to assist in the management of
the day-to-day operations of the corporation.
CONCEPTS
Estate administration - Answers -The process in which a decedent's personal
representative settles the affairs of the decedent's estate (collects assets, pays debts
and taxes, and distributes the remaining assets to heirs); the process is usually
overseen by a probate court.
inter vivos trust - Answers -A trust created by the grantor (settlor) and effective during
the grantor's lifetime—that is, a trust not established by a will.
Assault - Answers -Any word or action intended to make another person apprehensive
or fearful of immediate physical harm, a reasonably believable threat.
Battery - Answers -The intentional and offensive touching of another without lawful
justification.
Contributory Negligence - Answers -A theory in tort law under which a complaining
party's own negligence contributed to his or her injuries. This type of negligence is an
absolute bar to recover in some jurisdictions.
Comparative Negligence - Answers -A theory in tort law under which the liability for
injuries resulting from negligent acts is shared by all persons who were guilty of
negligence (including the injured party) on the basis of each person's proportionate
carelessness.
Negligence per se - Answers -An action or failure to act in violation of a statutory
requirement.
Strict Liability - Answers -Liability regardless of fault. In tort law, strict liability may be
imposed on a merchant who introduces into commerce a good that is so defective as to
be unreasonably dangerous.
Contract Validity Requirements - Answers -Agreement, Consideration, Contractual
Capacity, Legality
Agreement - Answers -A meeting of the minds, and a requirement for a valid contract. It
involves two distinct events: an offer to form a contract and the acceptance of that offer
by the offeree.
Offer - Answers -A promise or commitment to do or refrain from doing some specified
thing in the future.
Real Property - Answers -Immovable property consisting of land and the builds and
plant life thereon. Also known as real estate.
,Personal Property - Answers -Any property that is not real property. Generally, any
property that is movable or intangible is classified as this.
Fee Simple Absolute - Answers -Ownership rights entitling the holder to use, possess,
or dispose of the property however he or she chooses during his or her lifetime.
Eminent Domain - Answers -The power of a government to take land for public use from
private citizens for just compensation.
Easement - Answers -The right of a person to make limited use of another person's real
property without taking anything from the property.
Tenancy In Common - Answers -A form of co-ownership of property in which each party
owns an undivided interest that passes to his or her heirs after death.
Joint Tenancy - Answers -The joint ownership of property by two or more co-owners in
which each co-owner owns an undivided portion of the property. On the death of one of
the joint tenants, his or her interest automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant or
tenants.
Steps Involved in the Sale of Real Estate - Answers -Buyer's purchase offer, seller's
response, purchase and sale agreement, title examination and insurance, and closing.
Mortgage - Answers -A written instrument giving a creditor an interest in the debtor's
property as security for a debt.
Deed - Answers -A document by which title to property is transferred from one party to
another.
Lease - Answers -A contractual agreement under which a property owner (the lessor)
agrees to rent their property to another (the lessee) for a specific time period.
Risk - Answers -A prediction concerning potential loss based on known and unknown
factors.
Risk Management - Answers -Planning that is undertaken to reduce the risk of loss from
known and unknown events. In the context of insurance, this involves transferring
certain risks from the insured to the insurance company.
Guardian ad litem - Answers -A person appointed by the court to represent the interests
of a child or a mentally incompetent person before the court.
Property Settlement - Answers -A division of property between spouses on the
termination of a marriage.
,Marital Property - Answers -All property acquired during the course of a marriage, apart
from inheritances and gifts made to one or the other of the spouses.
Separate Property - Answers -Property that a spouse owned before the marriage, plus
inheritances and gifts acquired by the spouse during the marriage.
Community Property - Answers -In certain states, all property acquired during a
marriage, except for inheritances or gifts received during the marriage by either marital
partner. Each partner has a one-half ownership interest in this type of property.
Prenuptial Agreement - Answers -A contract formed between two persons who are
contemplating marriage to provide for the disposition of property in the event of a
divorce or death of one of the spouses after they have married.
Estate-planning process - Answers -Wills and Trusts
Will - Answers -Final declaration of how a person wishes to have his or her property
disposed of after death.
Testator - Answers -One who makes a valid will.
Testate - Answers -The condition of having died with a valid will.
Intestate - Answers -The state of having died without a valid will.
Intestacy Laws - Answers -State statutes that specify how property will be distributed
when a person dies intestate.
Executor - Answers -A person appointed by a testator to serve as a personal
representative on the testator's death.
Administrator - Answers -A person appointed by a court to serve as a personal
representative for a person who died intestate, who made a will but failed to name an
executor, or whose executor cannot serve.
Probate - Answers -To prove and validate a will; the process of proving and validating a
will and settling matters pertaining to the administration of a decedent's estate,
guardianship of a decedent's children, and similar matters.
Requirements for a Valid Will - Answers -Testamentary capacity, must be in writing,
must be signed by testator, must be witnessed, and must be published (in some states).
Trust - Answers -An arrangement in which property is transferred by one person (the
grantor, or settlor) to another (the trustee) for the benefit of a third party (the
beneficiary).
, Testamentary Trust - Answers -A trust that is created by will and that does not take
effect until the death of the testator.
Sole Proprietorship - Answers -The simplest form of business in which one person owns
the business.
Advantages to Sole Proprietorships - Answers -Entitled to all the profits made by the
firm, free to make decisions concerning the business, allowed to establish tax-exempt
retirement accounts.
Disadvantages of Sole Proprietorships - Answers -Owner is personally liable for any
losses, debts, and obligations incurred by the business enterprise, may be difficult to
obtain capital for expansion.
Partnership - Answers -Two or more individuals who undertake to do business together.
Joint Liability - Answers -Shared liability in partnership law, partners incur this for
partnership obligations and debts.
Joint and Several Liability - Answers -Shared and individual liability. In partnership law,
this means that a third party may sue all of the partners or one or more of the partners
separately. This is true even if one of the partners sued did not participate in, ratify, or
know about whatever gave rise to the cause of action.
Limited Partnership - Answers -A partnership consisting of one or more general partners
and one or more limited partners.
General Partner - Answers -A partner who participates in managing the business of a
partnership and has all the rights and liabilities that arise under traditional partnership
law.
Limited Partner - Answers -One who invests in a limited partnership but does not play
an active role in managing the operation of the business. Unlike general partners, these
are only liable for partnership debts up to the amounts that they have invested.
Shareholder - Answers -One who has an ownership interest in a corporation through the
purchase of corporate shares, or stock.
Share - Answers -A unit of stock; a measure of ownership interest in a corporation.
Director - Answers -A person elected by the shareholder to direct corporate affairs.
Officer - Answers -A person hired by corporate directors to assist in the management of
the day-to-day operations of the corporation.
