I have shown some of these if capital letters - these you will frequently run into. And know, that somewhere along the line, I'll likely use one or more as a puzzler! Sandi Ejectment: An action in which the right of the corporeal hereditaments may be tried. Equity: The court of law which aids and supplements the common law, justice and fairness. This is in contrast to criminal. Executor: Named by deceased in will to settle his/her estate. Facias: That you make or cause. Fiera Facias: That you cause to be made. Hereditament: Anything inherited. INFANT: child between birth and age 14. This is important - an infant was not always a baby! INFANT OF TENDER YEARS: Age 14 to 21. At age 21, the individual could chose his own guardian. Intestate: Dying without a will. Justification: Valid defense for the performance or non-performance of an action. Ne Exeat: A writ forbidding a person from leaving. This would have been issued in the divorces we've been handling when one party thought the other was going to flee the county. NEXT FRIEND: Normally, the plaintiff or defendant was a minor. Person named as the next friend was a guardian likely ad litem. Non-Assumpsit: Plea in an action that denies that a promise was made. Non Est Factum: It was not made. Ouster: A wrongful dispossession. Plaintiff: The one who brings an action at law. Relict: Spouse of the deceased had previously died, i.e. is a widow/widower. Replication: A reply or answer made by the plaintiff to a defendant's plea. Security: One who becomes a guarantor for another. Set Off: The discharge of one demand by an opposite one - a counter charge. Spa: Subpoena Special Plea: A pleading which avoids an allegation without expressly denying it. Surety: One legally liable for another. T. B. A.: Trespass, battery, assault. Tenement: Corporeal hereditaments & incorporeal hereditaments issuing out of corporeal ones which are annexed hereto. View Armis: Fore and arms. Colonel Sandi Gorin President, South Central KY Historical & Genealogical Society Sandi's website: http://www.gensoup.org/gorin/index.html Sandi's puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com