Also known as: close relations · closely related · close relative · near relative
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A connection between persons or entities that is sufficiently intimate or proximate to trigger specific legal rules or protections. The connection supplies an element required by the governing doctrine, such as qualifying provocation or determining the applicability of a choice-of-law factor.
Christian Coleman watched as Nina punched his younger brother in the face during an argument at a product launch party. Coleman immediately grabbed a laptop stand and struck Nina, killing her. The battery on the brother qualified as adequate provocation because the brother was a close relative of Coleman.
Pinnacle Med offered an internal performance review of its data manager to impeach her testimony about accurate logging. The review concerned a prior study and was never authenticated or produced in full. Because the document was not closely related to a controlling issue in the current trial, the court excluded it as extrinsic evidence.
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River Ocean purchased coastal property in State B from Josiah under a contract designating State A law. Jeremy later claimed a prescriptive easement based on decades of use entirely in State B. The court weighed the purpose of State B's property rules and the parties' relation to the land, finding State B possessed the most significant relationship for the easement issue.
Cameron Cruz saw a blind pedestrian step into the path of an oncoming car and pushed the pedestrian to safety, causing minor scrapes. The pedestrian sued for battery. Because the immunity is so closely related to consent, the privilege arising independently of consent defeated liability under the circumstances.
Cynthia Cortez and her first cousin began living together as adults and sharing expenses. When Cortez sought remedies under the Uniform Cohabitants Economic Remedies Act after the relationship ended, the court dismissed the claim. The statute excludes individuals too closely related to marry each other legally from cohabitant status.
Inez Moore lived with her son and two grandsons in a single dwelling. The city ordinance limited occupancy to narrowly defined family members and excluded a grandson whose mother had died. The Court held that the ordinance's restriction on this close family living arrangement violated due process.
No. The battery must be serious, must actually provoke the defendant, and must occur before a reasonable cooling-off period has elapsed. A battery on a close relative supplies a recognized category of adequate provocation, but the remaining elements of heat of passion must still be satisfied.
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Secondary evidence is admissible when the original is lost, destroyed, unobtainable, or in the opponent's control and not produced. If the writing is not closely related to a controlling issue, the court may still exclude it even if another 1004 ground is met.
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The purpose of each state's property rule and the relation of each state to the thing and the parties are weighed to determine the state of most significant relationship. A state where the land sits usually has a strong interest, but contacts with another state may outweigh that interest when the rule's purpose is only weakly implicated.
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No. The statute expressly excludes individuals who are too closely related to marry each other legally from the definition of cohabitant, regardless of whether they live together as a couple.
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…of land but an arbitrary and irrational regulation that chooses to regulate family living arrangements in a manner that is not closely related to the goals of reducing overcrowding, minimizing traffic and parking congestion, and avoiding an undue financial burden on the school system. Majority opinion Opinion of Mr.…