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hoc intuitu (hok in-t[y]oo-t[y]oo). [Law Latin] Scots law. In this prospect. The phrase appeared in reference to deeds executed in expectation ofan event, such as a marriage.

hoc loco (hok loh-koh). [Law Latin]. In this place.

hoc nomine (hok nahm-a-nee). [Law Latin]. In this name.

hoc ordine (hok or-di-nee). [Law Latin]. In this order.

hoc titulo (hok tit-ya-loh or tich-a-loh). [Law Latin]. Under this title.

hodgepodge 1. HOTCHPOT (1). 2. An unorganized mixture.

hodgepodge act A statute that deals with incongruous subjects. "Hodge-Podge Act. ... Such acts, besides being evident proofs of the ignorance of the makers of them, or of their want of good faith, are calculated to create a confusion which is highly prejudicial to the interests of justice, ... In many states bills, except general appropriation bills, can contain but one subject, which must be expressed in the title." 1 John Bouvier, Bouvier's Law Dictionarv 1444 (8th ed. 1914).

hohbler In England, a light horseman or bowman; a tenant bound by his tenure to maintain a small light horse for military service.

hold 1. An order to preserve something or to delay or postpone an action.

hold- vb. (bef. 12c) 1. To possess by a lawful title <Sarah holds the account as her separate property>. 2. (Of a court) to adjudge or decide as a matter of law (as opposed to fact) <this court thus holds the statute to be unconstitutional>. Cf. FI!'ID. 3. To direct and bring about officially; to conduct according to law <we must hold an election every two years>. 4. To keep in custody or under an obligation <I will ask the judge to hold you accountable>. 5. To take or have an estate from another; to have an estate on condition of paying rent or performing service <James holds Hungerstream Manor under lease>. 6. To conduct or preside at; to convoke, open, and direct the operations of <Judge Brown holds court four days a week>. 7. To possess or occupy; to be in possession and administration of <Jones holds the office of treasurer>.

hold harmless To absolve (another party) from any responsibility for damage or other liability arising from the transaction; INDEMNIFY. - Also termed save harmless.

hold order A notation in a prisoner's file stating that another jurisdiction has charges pending against the prisoner and instructing prison officials to alert authorities in that other jurisdiction instead of releasing the prisoner.

hold out 1. To represent (oneself or another) as having a certain legal status, as by claiming to be an agent or partner with authority to enter into transactions <even though he was only a promoter, Schwartz held himself out as the principal>. 2. To refuse to yield or submit; to stand firm <Womack held out for a higher salary and better benefits>.

hold pleas Archaic. To hear or try cases.

holdback An amount withheld from the full payment of a contract pending the other party's completion of some obligation, esp. to ensure that a contractor finishes the work agreed on beforehand. The terms of a holdback are typically expressed in the contract. The device gives the contractor an incentive to finish the work, and the other party security that the work will be finished. hold back, vb.

holder 1. A person who has legal possession of a negotiable instrument and is entitled to receive payment on it. 2. A person with legal possession of a document of title or an investment security. 3. A person who possesses or uses property.

holder for value A person who has given value in exchange for a negotiable instrument. Under the UCC, examples of "giving value" include acquiring a security interest in the instrument and accepting the instrument in payment of an antecedent claim. UCC § 3-303(a). - Also termed bona fide holder for value.

holder in due course A person who in good faith has given value for a negotiable instrument that is complete and regular on its face, is not overdue, and, to the possessor's knowledge, has not been dishonored. Under UCC § 3-305, a holder in due course takes the instrument free of all claims and personal defenses, but subject to real defenses. - Abbr. HDC; HIDe. Also termed due-course holder.

holder in good faith One who takes property or an instrument without knowledge of any defect in its title.

holder of record See STOCKHOLDER OF RECORD.

hold-harmless agreement A contract in which one party agrees to indemnify the other. Also termed save-harmless agreement. See INDEMNITY.

hold-harmless clause See INDEMNITY CLAUSE.

holding 1. A court's determination of a matter of law pivotal to its decision; a principle drawn from such a decision. Cf. OBITER DICTUM. 2. A ruling on evidence or other questions presented at trial. 3. (usu. pl.) Legally owned property, esp. land or securities. 4. Hist. In feudal law, tenure.

holding cell See JAIL.

holding charge A criminal charge of some minor offense filed to keep the accused in custody while prosecutors take time to build a bigger case and prepare more serious charges.

holding company A company formed to control other companies, usu. confining its role to owning stock and supervising management. It does not participate in making day-to-day business decisions in those companies.

holding company- See COMPANY.

holding over 1. A tenant's action in continuing to occupy the leased premises after the lease term has expired. Holding over creates a tenancy at sufferance, with the tenant being referred to as a holdover. See tenancy at sufferance under TENANCY. 2. Parliamentary law. An officer's continued tenure beyond the term for which he or she was elected, usu. because a successor has not been elected or cannot yet assume the office.

holding period The time during which a capital asset must be held to determine whether gain or loss from its sale or exchange is long-term or short· term.

holding zone See ZONE.

holding-company tax A federal tax imposed on undistributed personal-holding-company income after allowing deductions for such things as dividends paid. IRC (26 USCA) § 545. - Also termed personal¬ holding-company tax.

holding-company tax See TAX.

holdover clause See TRAILER CLAUSE.

holdover tenancy See tenancy at sufferance.

holdover tenancy See tenancy at sufferance under TENANCY.

holdover tenant A person who remains in possession of real property after a previous tenancy (esp. one under a lease) expires, thus giving rise to a tenancy at sufferance. - Sometimes shortened to holdover. See tenancy at sufferance under TENANCY.

holdover tenant See TENANT.

holdup See STICKUP.

holiday See LEGAL HOLIDAY.

holograph (hol-a-graf), A document (such as a will or deed) that is handwritten by its author. The majority rule is that a holographic will need not be entirely handwritten - only the "material provisions" to take into account the popular use of fillin-the-blank will forms. This is also the position of the Uniform Probate Code. Also termed olograph; autograph. Cf. ONOMASTIC; SYMBOLIC. - holographic, adj.

holographic will See WILL.

holymote See HALLMOTE (4).

homage (hom-ij). In feudal times, a ceremony that a new tenant performed for the lord to acknowledge thetenure. This was the most honorable service that a free tenant might do for a lord. In the ceremony, kneeling before the lord, the tenant placed his hands between the lord's hands while saying, "I become your man from this day forward, oflife and limb and earthly honor, and to you will be faithful and loyal, and bear you faith, for the tenements that I claim to hold ofyou, saving the faith that lowe unto our sovereign lord the king, so help me God." "Homage is an oath of fidelity, acknowledging himself to be the lord's man: wherein the tenant must be ungirt, uncov· ered, kneel upon both knees, and hold both his hands together between the lord's hands Sitting before him. This is to be done only to the lord himself." Sir Henry Finch, Law, or a Discourse Thereof143 (1759).

homage ancestral (hom-ij an-ses-tral). [Law French], A type of homage in which a tenant and the tenant's ancestors have held immemorially of another by the service of homage. This long-standing relationship bound the lord to warrant the title and to hold the tenant clear of all services to superior lords. - Also spelled homage auncestral (aw-mahzh on-se-stral).

homage jury See JURY.

homage jury A jury in a court baron, consisting of tenants who made homage to the lord. See COURT BARON.

homage liege (hom-ij leej). Homage due the sovereign alone as supreme lord, done without any saving or exception of the rights of other lords. Also termed homagium ligium (ha-may-jee-am Ii-jee-am).

homagio respectuando (ha-may-jee-oh ri-spek-choo-an-doh), n. [Law Latin "homage to the respected"]. A writ to the escheator commanding the delivery of seisin of lands to the heir of the king's tenant, even though the heir had not performed homage.

homagium (ha-may-jee-am), n. [Law Latin] A formal ceremony in which a feudal tenant acknowledged the tenure granted by a lord; HOMAGE.

homagium ligium See homage liege under HOMAGE.

homagium planum (play-nam), n. [Law Latin "plain homage"]. A type of homage binding the homager to nothing more than fidelity, without obligation either of military service or of attendance in the superior's courts.

homagium reddere (red-a-ree), n. [Law Latin "to renounce homage"]. The process, prescribed in feudal law by a set form and method, by which a vassal disowns and defies the lord.

homagium simplex (sim-pleks), n. [Law Latin "simple homage"]. A type ofhomage that acknowledges tenure, while reserving the rights of other lords.

hombre bueno (awm-bray bway-noh), n. Spanish law. 1. An arbitrator chosen by the parties to a suit. 2. A judge. 3. A citizen in good standing; esp., one who is competent to testify in a suit.

home (bef. 12c) A dwelling place. See FAMILY HOME.

home equity loan See LOAN.

home loan bank See FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK.

home office 1. A corporation's principal office or headquarters. 2. (cap.) In England, the Department of the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, responsible for overseeing the internal affairs of the country.

home owners warranty A warranty and insurance program that, among other coverage, insures a new home for ten years against major structural defects. The program was developed by the Home Owners Warranty Corporation, a subSidiary of the National Association of Home Builders. Builders often provide this type of coverage, and many states provide similar warranty protection by statute. Also spelled Home Owners' Warranty. - Abbr. HOW.

home port See PORT.

home port The port that is either where a vessel is registered or where its owner resides.

home rule A state legislative provision or action allocating a measure of autonomy to a local government, conditional on its acceptance of certain terms. Cf. LOCAL OPTION. "Home rule in the United States was sometimes envisioned in its early days as giving the cities to whom such rule was granted full-fledged sovereignty over local affairs, thus bringing about dual state and local sovereignty along the national plan of federal and state governments. But such local sovereignty has never delleloped, nor have any clearcut distinctions between state and local power." Osborne M. Reynolds Jr., Handbook of Local Government Law § 35, at 96 (1982).

home state 1. The state where a person is domiciled. 2. In an interstate child-custody dispute governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, the state where a child has lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the proceeding.

home-equity line of credit See home-equity loan under LOAN.

homeless shelter A privately or publicly operated residential facility providing overnight accommodation free of charge to homeless people. Most homeless shelters accept occupants on a first-come-first-served basis and are open only from early evening to early morning. Those that serve homeless families may remain open throughout the day to women and children. Some shelters offer occupants help such as advice on finding and applying for public assistance, employment, and medical care.

homeless shelter See SHELTER.

homeowners' association 1. An association of people who own homes in a given area and have united to improve or maintain the area's quality. 2. An association formed by a land developer or homebuilder to manage and maintain property in which the developer or the builder owns an undivided common interest. Homeowners' associations which are regulated by statute in many states - are commonly formed by restrictive covenant or a declaration of restrictions. Also spelled homeowners association. - Also termed owners' association.

homeowners' association- See ASSOCIATION.

homeowner's equity loan See LOAN.

homeowners insurance Insurance that covers both damage to the insureds residence and liability claims made against the insured (esp. those arising from the insureds negligence).

homeowner's insurance See INSURANCE.

homeowners policy A multiperil policy providing coverage for a variety of risks, including loss by fire, water, burglary, and the homeowners negligent conduct.

homeowner's policy See INSURANCE POLICY.

home-port doctrine The rule mandating that a vessel engaged in interstate and foreign commerce is taxable only at its home port, usu. where the vessel is registered.

home-rule charter A local government's organizational plan or framework, analogous to a constitution, drawn by the municipality itself and adopted by popular vote of the See HOME RULE. 3. A governmental act that creates a business or defines a corporate franchise; also, the document evidencing this act.

home-rule charter- See CHARTER (2).

homestall Homestead.

home-state jurisdiction See rURISDICTION.

home-state jurisdiction In interstate childcustody disputes governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, jurisdiction based on the childs having been a resident of the state for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of the suit. See HOME STATE.

homestead estate See HOMESTEAD.

homestead exemption See HOMESTEAD LAW.

homestead law A statute exempting a homestead from execution or judicial sale for debt, unless all owners, usu. a husband and wife, have jointly mortgaged the property or otherwise subjected it to creditors' claims. - Also termed homestead exemption; homestead-exemption statute; homestead right. "Almost all states also have legislative provisions, commonly referred to as homestead laws, designed to protect the family home from the reach of certain classes of creditors.... The protection afforded by an exemption statute is not absolute. A federal tax claim may be satisfied from 'exempt property.' A number of states make Similar exceptions for state taxes, claims for alimony and child support, materialmen and mechanics' liens. By statute in most states, case law in others, purchase money mortgages and security interests are generally not affected by an exemption statute." David G. Epstein & Steve H. Nickles, Consumer Law in a Nutshell 384-85 (2d ed. 1981).

homestead right See HOMESTEAD LAW.

homestead. 1. The house, outbuildings, and adjoining land owned and occupied by a person or family as a residence. - As long as the homestead does not exceed in area or value the limits fixed by law, in most states it is exempt from forced sale for collection of a debt. Also termed homestead estate. See HOMESTEAD LAW.

homesteader One who acquires or occupies a homestead.

homestead-exemption statute See HOMESTEAD LAW.

home-study report A summary ofan investigation into a child's home, family environment, and background, usu. prepared by a social worker when a child has been removed from his or her home because of abuse or neglect, but also prepared after a similar investigation of the home of potential adoptive parents. Often shortened to home study. Also termed custody evaluation; social study.

home-style exemption A provision in the u.s. Copyright Act allOWing for the public airing of radio and television broadcasts in public-accommodation establishments, such as bars and restaurants, with immunity from liability for infringement. The exemption is so named because the equipment used for the airing must be a single receiver of the type typically found in homes. 17 USCA § l10(5).

homicide (hom-a-sid), 1. The killing of one person by another. [Cases: Homicide C:=>500.] 2. A person who kills another. - homicidal, adj. "The legal term for killing a man, whether lawfully or unlawfully, is 'homicide.' There is no crime of 'homicide.' Unlawful homicide at common law comprises the two crimes of murder and manslaughter. Other forms of unlawful homiCide have been created by statute: certain new forms of manslaughter (homicide with diminished responsibility, and suicide pacts), infanticide, and causing death by dangerous drilling." Glanville Williams, Textbook of Criminal Law 204 (1978).

homicide by abuse Homicide in which the perpetrator, under circumstances showing an extreme indifference to human life, causes the death of the perpetrator's dependent - usu. a child or mentally retarded person.

homicide by misadventure See ACCIDENTAL KILLING.

homicide per infortunium (par in-for-t[y]oo-nee-am). [Latin "homicide by misfortune"]. The unintentional killing ofanother while engaged in a lawful act; ACCIDENTAL KILLING. See PER INFORTUNIUM.

homicidium (hom-a-si-dee-am), n. [Latin "felling of a person") Homicide.

homicidium ex casu (eks kay-s[y)oo). Homicide by accident. See ACCIDENTAL KILLING.

homicidium ex justitia (eks jas-tish-ee-a). Homicide in the administration of justice, or in the carrying out of a legal sentence. See justifiable homicide (2) under HOMICIDE.

homicidium ex necessitate (eks na-ses-i-tay-tee). Homicide from inevitable necessity, such as protecting one's person or property. See justifiable homicide (I) under HOMICIDE.

homicidium ex voluntate (eks vol-da-tay-tee). Voluntary or willful homicide. See criminal homicide under HOMICIDE.

homicidium in rixa (hom-a-si-dee-am in rik-sa). [Law Latin] Scots law. Homicide committed in the course of a brawl. "Homicidium in rixa .... Such crime amounts only to culpable homicide, and the pUnishment being in the dis· cretion of the judge, varies according to the particular circumstances of each case. It is not punished capitally, because this crime lacks the previous malice essential to the crime of murder." John Trayner, Trayner's Latin Maxims 244 (4th ed. 1894).

hominatio (hom-a-nay-shee-oh), n. [Law Latin]. HOMAGE.

homine capto in withernamium (hom-a-nee kap-toh in with-ar-nay-mee-am). [Law Latin "for taking a man in withernam"]. A writ for the arrest of a person who had taken a bondman out of the country to prevent a replevy. See WITHERNAM.