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mortgage broker An individual or organization that markets mortgage loans and brings lenders and borrowers together. A mortgage broker does not originate or service mortgage loans.

mortgage deed The instrument creating a mortgage. A mortgage deed typically must contain (1) the name of the mortgagor, (2) words of grant or conveyance, (3) the name ofthe mortgagee, (4) a property description sufficient to identify the mortgaged premises, (5) the mortgagor's signature, and (6) an acknowledgment. To be effective and binding, a mortgage deed must also be delivered.

mortgage foreclosure A foreclosure of the mortgaged property upon the mortgagor's default.

mortgage insurance 1. An agreement to payoff a mortgage if the insured dies or becomes disabled. 2. An agreement to provide money to the lender if the mortgagor defaults on the mortgage payments. Also termed private mortgage insurance (abbr. PMI).

mortgage-backed security A security (esp. a passthrough security) backed by mortgages. The cash flow from these securities depends on principal and interest payments from the pool of mortgages. See stripped mortgage-backed security.

movable freehold The land a seashore owner acquires or loses as water recedes or approaches.

movable property See MOVABLE (1).

moving expense An expense incurred in changing one's residence. Ifincurred for business reasons (as when one's job requires relocation), most moving expenses are tax-deductible.

multidisciplinary practice of law See MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE.

multifarious issue An issue that inquires about several different points (esp. facts) when each one should be inquired about in a separate issue.

multilateral advance pricing agreement An advance pricing agreement made between a company and more than two tax authorities.

multimaturity bond See put bond.

multinational corporation A company with operations in two or more countries, generally allowing it to transfer funds and products according to price and demand conditions, subject to risks such as changes in exchange rates or political instability. Also termed transnational corporation.

multiperil policy An insurance policy that covers several types of losses, such as a homeowners policy that covers losses from fire, theft, and personal injury. Also termed named-perils policy.

multiple access Hist. In a paternity suit, the defense that the mother had one or more sexual partners other than the defendant around the time of conception. The basis for the defense is that because the mother bears the burden of proof, she must be able to prove that only the defendant could be the child's father. In some jurisdictions, this is still known by its common-law name, the exceptio plurium concubentium defense, or simply the plurium defense. Juries or judges who wished to dismiss the case because of the mother's promiscuity, rather than because of the improbability of the defendant's paternity, often accepted this defense. Most states have now abrogated the defense. In recent years the issue of multiple access has declined in importance with the rise of highly accurate paternity testing. 4. Patents & Trademarks. The right to obtain information about and to inspect and copy U.S. Patent and Trademark Office files of patents, patent applications, trademark applications, and inter partes proceedings pertaining to them. 5. Copyright. An opportunity by one accused of infringement to see, hear, or copy a copyrighted work before the alleged infringement took place <the duplication of the error proved that the defendant had access to the work>. Proof of access is required to prove copyright infringement unless the two works are strikingly similar. "Since direct evidence of copying is rarely available, a plaintiff can rely upon circumstantial evidence to prove this essential element; the most important component of such circumstantial evidence to support a copyright infringement claim is proof of access. Evidence of access and substantial similarity create an inference of copying and establish a prima facie case of copying." 18 Am. Jur. 2d Copyright and Literary Property & 206 (1985).

multiple admissibility The evidentiary rule that, although a piece of evidence is inadmissible under one rule for the purpose given in offering it, it is nevertheless admissible if relevant and offered for some other purpose not forbidden by the rules of evidence.

multiple counts Several separate causes of action or charged offenses contained in a single pleading or indictment.

multiple damages Statutory damages (such as double or treble damages) that are a multiple of the amount that the fact-finder determines to be owed. Also termed multiplied damages. See double damages; treble damages. "[T]he statutory multiple damages differ from the common law punitive damages in that punitive damages involved no fixed sum or limit. The fixed limit of multiple damages not only reduces their threat to the defendant and the potential for abuse, it also reduces the possibility of a measured deterrence. Likewise, because the enhancement of the award is fixed by the statutory multiple, there is no occasion for introducing evidence of the defendant's wealth as there is in the case of common law punitive damages. .. Perhaps a more important distinction is that multiple damages statutes may be enacted for entirely non·punitive purposes. SpeCifically, some double or treble damages statutes, and also specified 'civil penalties,' are intended to provide a kind of liquidated damages for actual losses that cannot be proved or that are otherwise unrecognized by the law." Dan B. Dobbs, Law of Remedies § 3.12, at 359 (2d ed. 1993).

multiple evidence Evidence with probative or other value on more than one issue but usu. admitted into evidence for one specific purpose. Impeachment evidence, for example, may not be probative on a particular issue but may nonetheless affect the jury's perceptions of several issues.

multiple interest A property interest that is good against an indefinitely large number of people.

multiple offense An offense that violates more than one law but that may require different proof so that an acquittal or conviction under one statute does not exempt the defendant from prosecution under another.

multiple sentences Concurrent or consecutive sentences, if a convicted criminal is found guilty of more than one offense.

multiple-dependent claim A dependent claim that refers to more than one other preceding claim.

multiple-party account An account that has more than one owner with a current or future interest in the account. Multiple-party accounts include joint accounts, payable-on-death (P.O.D.) accounts, and trust accounts. Unif. Probate Code § 6-201(5).

Multistate Bar Examination A nationally standard-ized part of a state bar examination given as a multi-ple-choice test covering broad legal subjects, including constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, evidence, property, and torts. Abbr. MBE.

multistate corporation A corporation incorporated under the laws of two or more states.

municipal bond A bond issued by a nonfederal government or governmental unit, such as a state bond to finance local improvements .The interest received from a municipal bond may be exempt from federal, state, and local taxes. - Often shortened (in plural) to municipals; munies. - Also termed munic-ipal security. Cf. ex legal municipal bond.

municipal corporation See MUNICIPAL CORPORATION.

municipal corporation de facto See MUNICIPAL CORPORATION.

municipal court A court having jurisdiction (usu. civil and criminal) over cases arising within the municipality in which it sits. A municipal court's civil jurisdiction to issue a judgment is often limited to a small amount, and its criminal jurisdiction is limited to petty offenses. - Also termed city court.

municipal domicile A person's residence in a county or municipality, as distinguished from the person's state or national domicile.

municipal election The election of municipal officers.

municipal government See local government.

municipal judge A local judge having criminal or civil jurisdiction, or sometimes both, within a city. Also termed city judge.

municipal officer A person who occupies a municipal office usu. mandated by statute or charter and who may be required to take an oath and exercise sovereign authority in carrying out public duties, with compensation incident to the office irrespective of the actual services rendered.

municipal security See municipal bond under BOND (3).

municipal utility district A publicly owned corporation, or a political subdivision, that provides the public with a service or services, such as water, electricity, gas, transportation, or telecommunications. Abbr. MUD. - Also termed public utility district (PUD).

must-pass bill Legislation of vital importance, such as an appropriation without which the government will shut down. A must-pass bill will often attract unrelated riders. See RIDER.

mutual account An account showing mutual transactions between parties, as by showing debits and credits on both sides of the account. "[E]ach party to a mutual account occupies both a debtor and creditor relation with regard to the other party. A mutual account arises where there are mutual dealings, and the account is allowed to run with a view to an ultimate adjustment of the balance. In order to establish a mutual account, it is not enough that the parties to the account have cross demands or cross open accounts: there must be an actual mutual agreement, express or implied, that the claims are to be set off against each other." 1 Am. Jur. 2d Accounts and Accounting § 6, at 564 (1994).

mutual affray See MUTUAL COMBAT.

mutual assent Agreement by both parties to a contract, usu. in the form of offer and acceptance. In modern contract law, mutual assent is determined by an objective standard - that is, by the apparent intention of the parties as manifested by their actions. Cf. MEETING OF THE MINDS.

mutual company A company that is owned by its customers rather than by a separate group of stockholders. Many insurance companies are mutual companies, as are many federal savings-and-Ioan associations. See MUTUAL LNSURANCE COMPANY.

mutual contract See bilateral contract.

mutual debts Cross-debts of the same kind and quality between two persons. Cf. SETOFF (2).

mutual insurance A system of insurance (esp. life insurance) whereby the policyholders become members of the insurance company, each paying premiums into a common fund from which each can draw in the event of a loss.

mutual insurance company An insurance company whose policyholders are both insurers and insureds because they pay premiums into a common fund, from which claims are paid; an insurer whose policy-holders are its owners, as opposed to a stock insurance company owned by outside shareholders. Cf. stock insurance company. "Mutual insurance companies are organized by a number of persons for the purpose of transacting some particular insurance business .... A company is a mutual one when the persons constituting the company contribute either cash or assessable premium notes, or both, to a common fund, out of which each is entitled to indemnity in case of loss. The distinguishing feature is mutuality, evidenced by the co-operation of members, uniting for that purpose, each taking a proportionate part in the management of its affairs and being at once insurer and insured. contributing to a fund from which all losses are paid. Democratic ownership and control is a fundamental characteristic of a mutual insurance company." 18 John Alan Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 10041, at 79-80 (1945).

mutual promises Promises given Simultaneously by two parties, each promise serving as consideration for the other. See bilateral contract under CONTRACT.

mutual release A simultaneous exchange of releases of legal claims held by two or more parties against each other.

mutual savings bank A bank that has no capital stock and in which the depositors are the owners. See SAV-INGS-AND-LOAN ASSOCIATION.

mutual-fund wrap account An investment account that allocates an investor's assets only among mutual funds rather than stocks or other investments. See wrap account.

N.W abbr. NORTH WESTERK REPORTER.

naked assignment See assignment-in-gross.

naked authority Authority delegated to an agent solely for the principal's benefit, without a beneficial interest in the matter for the agent.o This authority can be revoked by the principal at any time. Cf. authority coupled with an interest.

naked bailment See gratuitous bailment. 2. The personal property delivered by the bailor to the bailee. 3. The contract or legal relation resulting from such a delivery. 4. The act of posting bail for a criminal defen-dant. 5. The documentation for the posting of bail for a criminal defendant.

naked confession A confession unsupported by any evidence that a crime has been committed, and therefore usu. highly suspect.

naked contract See NUDUM PACTUM.

naked option A call option that grants another the right to buy stock even though the option-giver does not own the stock to back up that commitment. Also termed uncovered option.

naked owner A person whose property is burdened by a usufruct. The naked owner has the right to dispose of the property subject to the usufruct, but not to derive its fruits. See USUFRUCT.

naked ownership Louisiana law. See imperfect ownership.

naked possession The mere possession of something, esp. real estate, without any apparent right or colorable title to it.

naked possibility A mere chance or expectation that a person will acquire future property. A conveyance of a naked possibility is usu. void for lack of subject matter, as in a deed conveying all rights to a future estate not yet in existence. Also termed bare possibility; naked expectancy.

naked power The power to exercise rights over something (such as a trust) without having a corresponding interest in that thing. Cf. power coupled with an interest.

naked promise See gratuitous promise.

name partner A partner whose name appears in the name of the partnership <Mr. Tibbs is a name partner in the accounting firm of Gibbs & Tibbs>. Also termed named partner; title member.

named insured A person designated in an insurance policy as the one covered by the policy.

named-insured exclusion An exclusion limiting liability-insurance coverage to a named insured whose injuries were caused by another named insured under the same insurance policy.

nanny tax A federal social-security tax imposed on the employer of a domestic employee if the employer pays that employee more than a specified amount in total wages in a year. The term, which is not a technical legal phrase, was popularized in the mid-1990s, when several of President Clintons nominees were found not to have paid the socialsecurity tax for their nannies.

narrative recital (usu. pl.) A recital dealing with matters such as how the buyer and the seller came together.

narrow certiorari Certiorari limited to reviewing questions about jurisdiction, the regularity of the proceeding, the exercise of unauthorized powers, and constitutional rights. Narrow certiorari is usu. applied to appeals from arbitrators' awards or the decisions of state agencies. It is most common in Pennsylvania. Also termed limited certiorari.

national airspace Int'l law.The pillar of air above a nation's territory including internal waters and the territorial sea over which it has complete and exclusive sovereignty and through which foreign aircraft have no right of innocent passage . There is no agreement on the boundary between national airspace and outer space.

national bank A bank incorporated under federal law and governed by a charter approved by the Comptrol-ler of the Currency. A national bank must use the term "national," "national bank," or "national association" as part of its name.

national currency Currency approved by a national government and placed in circulation as a medium of exchange. See LEGAL TE:-IDER.

national debt- See NATIONAL DEBT.

national domicile A domicile considered in terms of a particular nation rather than a locality or subdivision of a nation.

national government 1. See NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 2. See federal government (2).

national river A river wholly contained within a Single country. That country has exclusive territorial rights over the river.

national synod A synod composed of clergy from a single nation.

national-security privilege See state-secrets privilege.

national-service life insurance See LIFE INSURANCE.

natural allegiance The allegiance that native-born citizens or subjects owe to their nation.

natural boundary Any nonartificial thing (such as a river or ocean) that forms a boundary of a nation, a political subdivision, or a piece of Also termed natural object.

natural channel The naturally formed bed and banks of a stream.

natural child 1. A child by birth, as distinguished from an adopted child. Also termed biological child; genetic child. 2. A child that is genetically related to the mother and father as opposed to a child conceived by donor insemination or by egg donation. 3. Archaic. An illegitimate child, usu. one acknowledged by the father.

natural cognation A blood relationship, usu. arising from an illicit connection. 3. Relationship between persons or things of the same or similar nature; likeness.

natural day 1. The 24-hour period from midnight to midnight. - Also termed calendar day. 2. The period between sunrise and sunset. Also termed artificial day.

natural death 1. Bodily death, as opposed to civil death. 2. Death from causes other than accident or violence; death from natural causes. - Also termed mars naturalis. See NATURAL-DEATH ACT. Cf. violent death.

natural domicile See domicile oforigin.

natural father See biological father.

natural flood channel A channel through which flood waters naturally accumulate and flow downstream. 2. The line of deep water that shipping vessels follow <a shipping channel>. 3. A water route between two islands or an island and a continent <the English Channel>. 4. A mode of transmitting something <the news channel>.

natural fruit A product of the land or of animals. Examples are crops and eggs. La. Civ. Code art. 2317. See FRUCTUS NATURALES. 3. Something (such as evidence) obtained during an activity or operation <the fruit of the officer's search>. See FRUIT-OF-THE-POISONOUS-TREE DOCTRINE.

natural guardian 1. The eldest son's father, until the son turned 21. 2. In the absence of statute, the father of a legitimate child until the child reaches the age of 21. A father of illegitimate children may be appointed as their guardian upon the mother's death. 3. Most commonly and by statute, either the father or the mother of a minor child - each bearing the title Simultaneously .o Ifone parent dies, the other is the natural guardian. See guardian by nature.

natural heir An heir by consanguinity as distinguished from an heir by adoption or a statutory heir (such as a person's spouse).

natural infancy At common law, the period ending at age seven, during which a child was presumed to be without criminal capacity. 3. The beginning stages of anything.

natural interruption Louisiana law. A break of more than one year in a possessors period of possession after a rightful owner or a third person seizes the real property. La. Civ. Code art. 3465. Also termed natural interruption of prescription.

natural justice Justice as defined in a moral, as opposed to a legal, sense. - Also termed justitia naturalis. Cf. NATURAL LAW. "Although the judges have frequently asserted that a foreign judgment which contravenes the principles of natural justice cannot be enforced in England, it is extremely difficult to fix with precision the exact cases in which the contravention is sufficiently serious tojustify a refusal of enforcement. Shadwell V.-C. once said that "whenever it is manifest that justice has been disregarded, the court is bound to treat the decision as a matter of no value and no substance." [Price v. Dewhurst, 8 Sim 279, 302 (1837).] But this goes too far....The expression "contrary to natural justice" has, however, figured so prominently in judicial statements that it is essential to fix, if possible, its exact scope. The only statement that can be made with any approach to accuracy is that in the present context, the expression is confined to something glaringly defective in the procedural rules of the foreign law .... In other words, what the courts are vigilant to watch is that the defendant has not been deprived of an opportunity to present his side of the case." G.c. Cheshire, Private International Law 675 (6th ed. 1961).

natural law See NATURAL LAW.

natural obligation 1. A moral duty that is not enforceable by judicial action. Natural obligations are recognized in civil-law jurisdictions. While they are not enforceable by judicial action, something that has been performed under a natural bligation may not be reclaimed. For example, if an indigent patient in a hospital has no legal obligation to pay for the treatment but does so anyway, that person cannot later reclaim the payments voluntarily made. Also termed obligatio naturalis. 2. See moral obligation.

natural possession The exercise of physical detention or control over a thing, as by occupying a building or cultivating farmland. Natural possession may be had without title, and may give rise to a claim of unlawful possession or a claim of ownership by acquisitive prescription. The term "natural possession" has been replaced by the term "corporeal possession" in the Louisiana Civil Code, by virtue of a 1982 revision. La. Civ. Code Ann. art. 3425. See corporeal possession; PRESCRIPTION (2). Cf. possessio naturalis under POSSESSIO.

natural premium The actual cost oflife insurance based solely on mortality rates. This amount will be less than a net premium. See net premium.

natural presumption A deduction of one fact from another, based on common experience.