780 articles
Grounds for divorce (United States)
Grounds for divorce in the United States are fault grounds (adultery, cruelty, abandonment) or no-fault grounds (irreconcilable differences, irretrievable breakdown). All 50 states offer no-fault divorce after California's 1969 Family Law Act; 33 states retain fault grounds, 17 allow no-fault only.
Guardianship of Infants Act 1964
Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 (No. 7 of 1964), Irish statute consolidating custody and guardianship law; welfare of the child paramount, unmarried father guardianship after 12 months' cohabitation, amended by 2015 and 2026 Acts.
Habitual residence
Habitual residence is a factual connecting factor in private international law, first used by the Hague Conference in 1902, that links a person to a legal system for divorce jurisdiction, choice of law, maintenance, succession, and child protection, replacing domicile and nationality.
Hadley v Baxendale
Hadley v Baxendale (1854) 9 Ex 341 is the English Court of Exchequer case establishing the remoteness of damage rule in contract: recoverable losses arise naturally from breach or were contemplated due to communicated special circumstances, refined by Victoria Laundry and The Heron II.
Hague Conference on Private International Law
Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), founded 1893 by T.M.C. Asser, permanent intergovernmental organisation since 1955 that unifies private international law through Hague Conventions such as the 1961 Apostille and 1980 Child Abduction Conventions; 95 Members including the EU.
Hague Convention on Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations
The Hague Convention on Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations, concluded in 1970, obliges Contracting States to recognize divorces and legal separations validly granted in other Contracting States.
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980 Child Abduction Convention) is a multilateral treaty concluded 25 October 1980, in force 1 December 1983, with 103 parties, requiring prompt return of wrongfully removed children under 16 through Central Authorities, with Article 13 exceptions.
Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance
2007 Hague Child Support Convention (Verdrag inzake de internationale inning van levensonderhoud voor kinderen), a multilateral treaty for cross-border recovery of child support and family maintenance via Central Authorities, free legal aid, and streamlined enforcement; in force 2013, with the EU, US, UK, and Canada among parties.
Hague Conventions on the Law Applicable to International Sales of Goods
The Hague Conventions on the Law Applicable to International Sales of Goods are two treaties deciding which country's law governs international sales without a chosen law.
Hague Divorce Convention
Hague Divorce Convention (1970 Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations Convention), HCCH No 18, treaty obliging Contracting States to recognize foreign divorces and separations meeting Article 2 residence or nationality ties; 20 parties, 12 EU states, in force 24 August 1975.
Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts
The Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts are non-binding rules adopted by the Hague Conference in 2015, affirming party autonomy in choosing contract law.
Hard money loan
Hard money loan: a short-term, asset-based real estate loan from private or nonbank lenders, underwritten on property value rather than borrower income, typically priced at 9–14% interest plus 1–4 points, used for fix-and-flip, bridge, and construction projects.
Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd
Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465, House of Lords 1963 negligent misstatement case: established duty of care for pure economic loss from careless advice, defeated by Heller's 'without responsibility' disclaimer; foundation of professional negligence law, later shaped by Caparo and Henderson v Merrett.
Heirloom
An heirloom is a valued family possession passed down generations; in strict English law, a chattel passing by custom with land to the heir, abolished in 1925, now mainly an estate-planning and horticultural term.
Hermesmann v. Seyer
Hermesmann v. Seyer (State ex rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer, 252 Kan. 646, 847 P.2d 1273) is a 1993 Kansas Supreme Court case holding a 13-year-old statutory-rape victim liable for child support, consent being irrelevant in civil paternity proceedings.
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances: evictions of Highland and Island tenants, c.1760–1860, for sheep farming; Sutherland clearances, Patrick Sellar, Great Highland Famine, Crofters War, and the 1886 Crofters Act.
Hill v Church of Scientology of Toronto
Hill v Church of Scientology of Toronto is a 1995 Supreme Court of Canada decision that upheld a jury's libel award to Ontario Crown attorney S. Casey Hill.
Hindu code bills
Hindu code bills: four 1955-1956 Indian acts codifying Hindu personal law on marriage, succession, guardianship, and adoption, born from the defeated 1940s Hindu Code Bill championed by Ambedkar and Nehru.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (हिन्दू उत्तराधिकार अधिनियम, 1956)
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (हिन्दू उत्तराधिकार अधिनियम, 1956), Act 30 of 1956, codifies intestate succession for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs; amended in 2005 to give daughters equal coparcenary rights, later upheld in Vineeta Sharma (2020).
Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856
Act XV of 1856, the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, legalized remarriage of Hindu widows in British India, legitimized their children, but forfeited their husband's-property rights; Vidyasagar campaigned for it, and the Law Commission recommended repeal in 1979.
History of contract law
History of contract law: development of enforceable agreements from Roman law through medieval ius commune, English assumpsit and consideration, 19th-century codifications, and modern instruments like the CISG and UNIDROIT Principles.
History of equity and trusts
History of equity and trusts: English equity from the Court of Chancery's clerical chancellors, and the trust from the medieval feoffment to use, through Dacre's Case, the Statute of Uses (1535/1536), the use upon a use, and the Judicature Acts 1873-1875.
Hollis v Vabu
Hollis v Vabu Pty Ltd [2001] HCA 44; (2001) 207 CLR 21, High Court of Australia decision holding a bicycle courier was an employee, not an independent contractor, so Vabu was vicariously liable; established the totality-of-relationship test, later qualified by Personnel Contracting and ZG Operations (2022).
Holographic will
Holographic will, or holograph will: a will written and signed entirely in the testator's own handwriting, valid without witnesses in about half of US states, of Roman origin, recognized broadly in civil law jurisdictions like France.
Homeowner association
Homeowner association (HOA), a mandatory-membership private organization governing common areas and enforcing CC&Rs in US planned communities and condominiums; about 309,000 associations, fees averaging $243 monthly in 2023.
Homestead exemption
Homestead exemption: US legal protection shielding a primary residence (house, outbuildings, adjoining land) from creditors and bankruptcy, and separately reducing property taxes. Federal bankruptcy amount $31,575; state amounts vary from none to unlimited (Texas, Florida).
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or co-op, is corporate ownership of housing where residents hold shares plus occupancy rights rather than unit title. Covers governance, limited equity and market rate models, US history, and condo differences.
Howrey
Howrey LLP (Howrey, Simon, Baker & Murchison), a Washington, D.C. law firm founded in 1956, was the nation's first antitrust firm; it peaked at 750 lawyers and $573 million revenue before dissolving in March 2011, and its Jewel-waiver bankruptcy litigation reshaped unfinished business doctrine.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (1990 c. 37), UK statute regulating embryos and gametes, establishing the HFEA, licensing IVF and embryo research, with the 14-day rule, amended by the 2008 Act.
Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll
Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll (1903–1973), Scottish peer and Clan Campbell chief; four marriages including Margaret Whigham; the 1963 'headless man' divorce scandal; POW 1940–45; inherited dukedom 1949.