Law Library Legal Dictionary – C

Legal Definitions – C

CAN-SPAM Act – A federal law that regulates spam e-mail.

Capital Assets – Property that a taxpayer is in possession of, except for stock, real property, copyrights, and a few other types of items.

Cash Advance Loan – A short-term high-interest loan where the consumer writes a post-dated check, usually a week or two weeks from the date the check is actually issued.

CC&R – The set of conditions, covenants, and restrictions that govern condominium owners.

Cease and Desist Letter – A letter advising a person or organization to stop performing acts which are illegal in nature.

Cease and Desist Order – A court order requiring a defendant to stop performing certain actions, such as the unauthorized use of a plaintiff’s copyrighted material in a copyright infringement case.

Chain of Title – The overall history of how the title to a piece of real property has passed from the original owner to the current owner.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy – A type of reorganization bankruptcy that is available to individuals, corporations, and partnerships and requires the debtor to create and follow a plan to pay off the incurred debt. It is the most flexible of all the bankruptcy chapters, which makes it generally more expensive to the debtor.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy – A form of liquidation bankruptcy under which one’s assets are liquidated to pay off the incurred debt. Most types of debts are discharged after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Charitable Trust – An irrevocable trust that is established for a charitable purpose, such as accomplishing a charitable goal.

Check Fraud – The unlawful use of a check to illegally acquire funds that do not currently exist within the checking account.

Child Abuse – The physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse and/or neglect of a minor.

Child Custody – The right to make major decisions concerning a child and the parental responsibilities of taking care of a child.

Child Labor Law – A type of law that governs a minor’s ability to work, including what industries, how long, and what kinds of additional resources must be available for minor employees.

Child Pornography – Any visual item that shows a minor (a person under 18 years of age) engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including computer-generated images that are indistinguishable from a real image.

Child Status Protection Act – Protects the children of US citizens and permanent residents from "aging out" and losing their child status for permanent residency if they are still in the process of obtaining permanent residency for which they had applied for prior to turning 21.

Child Support – The amount of money a parent is required by law to pay to the spouse who retains primary custody of the child in order to benefit the child and to help cover the child’s living expenses.

Child Visitation Agreement – An agreement that outlines the child visitation rights of each parent and determines who is assigned physical custody of the children during specified time periods.

Citizenship – A citizen’s status with the duties, rights, and privileges that accompany this status.

Class A Felony – A category of felonies that is usually reserved for the most serious types of felonies, such as first-degree murder and rape.

Class A Misdemeanor – The most serious classification of misdemeanor charges in most states.

Class Action – A type of lawsuit brought by one or more people on behalf of a larger group, or class, of similarly situated people.

Clean Water Act – A federal law that helps to regulate the amount of pollutant discharge from certain industries and which sets safety requirements for water. In addition, the law makes it a federal crime to discharge any pollutants without a permit.