Also known as: meignes · meyne · meiny · mesne · household · retinue
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A group of persons living together in the same residence under common management or as a single domestic unit. The concept identifies those who share a dwelling for personal, family, or household purposes and determines rights and liabilities that attach to that shared living arrangement.
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Judge Ramirez learns that her adult son who lives in her home owns shares in a corporation that is a party to a pending case. Because the son resides in the judge's household, the economic interest triggers mandatory disqualification under the rule. The judge must recuse herself even though she holds no personal stake.
State law allows only the husband to sell land titled jointly in the names of both spouses. Maya Malik and her husband hold the property as marital assets. The statute's grant of sole power to the husband is challenged as an invalid gender classification. The court strikes the provision because it denies equal protection to the wife.
Chelsea purchases a gaming laptop on credit for use in her apartment. She plays games and streams shows in the evenings and only occasionally does freelance work on weekends. Because the primary purpose is personal and household, the laptop qualifies as consumer goods. The seller's purchase-money security interest therefore perfects automatically upon attachment.
After Maurice Marshall dies, his surviving spouse selects household furniture, an automobile, and personal effects from the estate. The probate code grants her up to fifteen thousand dollars in value of such items in addition to the homestead allowance. The spouse receives the items free of most creditor claims because they fall within the exempt-property category.
A trespasser enters Mina Mehta's land and leaves an open excavation that collapses. Mina's adult child who resides in the home falls into the hole and breaks a leg. The trespasser is liable for the physical harm to the household member even though the trespass caused no damage to the land itself.
Michael Miller moves in with the mother and her newborn child. For the next two years he lives in the same household, openly holds the child out as his own, and participates in daily care. The statute creates a presumption that Michael is a legal parent because of the continuous co-residence and holding-out during the child's first two years of life.
A judge must disqualify when the judge knows that any member of the judge's household has an economic interest in the subject matter or a party. The rule treats the household as a single unit for purposes of identifying disqualifying financial interests.
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Classification turns on whether the debtor buys or uses the goods primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. Incidental business use does not reclassify the item when the predominant purpose remains personal or household.
…a half dozen licensed drivers, each with his or her own car. At the same time it forbids an adult brother and sister to share a household, even if both faithfully use public transportation. The ordinance would permit a grandmother to live with a single dependent son and children, even if his school-age children number a…
…There exist, however, state and local welfare programs which may supplement the worker's income. In addition, the worker's household unit can qualify for food stamps if it meets the financial need requirements. See 7 U. S. C. §§ 2013 (c), 2014 (b); 7 CFR § 271 (1975). Finally, in 1974 480,000 of the approximately…
…v. Lorenz, supra . In these times, an automobile is almost as much a servant of convenience for the ordinary person as a household utensil. For a multitude of other persons it is a necessity. Crowded highways and filled parking lots are a commonplace of our existence. There is no need to look any farther than the daily…
…on to represent the Concepcions in litigation for the possibility of fees stemming from a $30.22 claim? See, e.g., Carnegie v. Household Int’l, Inc. , 376 F. 3d 656, 661 (CA7 2004) (“The realistic alternative to a class action is not 17 million individual suits, but zero individual suits, as only a lunatic or a fanatic sues…
…During the 10-year period from 1973-1982, only 3.8% of all burglaries involved violent crime. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Household Burglary 4 (1985).[^maj-23] See also T. Reppetto, Residential Crime 17, 105 (1974); Conklin & Bittner, Burglary in a Suburb, 11 Criminology 208, 214 (1973). V We wish to make clear…
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The surviving spouse is entitled to household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects up to a statutory value in addition to the homestead allowance. These exempt-property rights have priority over most claims against the estate.
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Yes. A trespasser is liable for physical harm caused to members of the possessor's household even if the trespass causes no damage to the land itself. The rule extends protection to the entire domestic unit.
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An individual who resides in the same household with a child for the first two years of the child's life and openly holds the child out as his or her own is presumed to be a parent. The presumption may be overcome only by adjudication or a valid denial.
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