Status (law)
Encyclopedia
A person's status is a set of social conditions or relationships created and vested in an individual by an act of law
rather than by the consensual acts
of the parties
, and it is in rem
, i.e. these conditions must be recognised by the world. It is the qualities of universality and permanence that distinguish status from consensual relationships such as employment
and agency
. Hence, a person's status and its attributes are set by the law of the domicile
if born in a common law
state, or by the law of nationality
if born in a civil law
state and this status and its attendant capacities
should be recognised wherever the person may later travel.
was a person who, by judicial process, was deprived of all normal rights as a human being unless and until a court reversed itself through an affirmative act of inlawry. This was a form of civil death
. Similarly, a slave
was a chattel or possession, and had no legal personality except that, in the U.S., some of the Free States did allow limited legal personality. Legal personality could be surrendered voluntarily by becoming a monk or by travelling, e.g. the first provisions of the French Civil Code deny civil rights
to foreigners. As an aspect of the social contract
between a state and the citizens who owe it allegiance
, most developed legal systems contain positive provisions defining each individual's legal identity and its attributes. All matters of social rank or caste
are examples of personal status, the modern extremes of which would be nobility
and the 200 million dalits, the untouchables of India
.
Full age or minority
are in many laws treated as aspects of personal status. The same thing is true of the loss of capacity
by reason of insanity
or other mental illness
. This is of critical importance if a person wishes to enter into a marriage
or a contract
having travelled to a state where the age of minority is different or the form of marriage is apparently not consistent with the laws of the "home" state.
Fictitious persons or legal entities may be created by law through the act of incorporation
and these corporation
s are quite separate from the natural person
s who may be involved. The holders of some public offices are vested with the office, its terms are fixed by law, and every person within the state must recognise the existence of the office and its rights and duties, e.g. an archbishop
or a corporation may represent a business association with its own purposes and capacities. It would be commercially inconvenient if the status of the entity changed depending on the laws of the place where commercial transactions were effected. For example, general partnership
s have a separate legal personality in some states but not in others.
bonds lawfully entered into under the laws of any country
, which changes the status of a person from "independent", "single" or "unmarried" to "a married person", will be recognized as such by all other countries in the world, and the partners to the marriage assume the status of husband
and wife
. That status goes with the people no matter where in the world the spouses may find themselves (except where local public policy
is invoked). However, though they are recognized as husband and wife, pursuant to a marriage anywhere in the world, the mutual rights and duties owed by the spouses are determined by the law or custom of the country in which they find themselves.
Under normal circumstances, marriage exists until either one of the parties dies or until it is ended by legal process through nullity
or divorce
. The circumstances in which that status is to be brought to an end is of sufficient interest to the State that it usually regulates the circumstances in which the family
relationship
may be terminated. On the death of a spouse, the survivor's personal status changes to "widow" or "widower", and on the termination of the marriage, both of their status changes to "divorcee".
The emotional ties between parent
s and their children come into being through the natural blood relationship but the law attaches a series of right and duties to all involved. A child has the status of a minor
. Another is the status of legitimacy
, though many countries have now ceased to distinguish on that basis. A legitimate child is usually defined as one born to parents who are married to each other; the child is illegitimate if the relationship is not recognized by the law, but usually has the opportunity to change status if the parents subsequently marry. Adoption
usually creates a legal relationship similar to that of natural parent and child. In that event, legitimacy or otherwise of the child is not an issue. A parent does not have status as a parent. Issues may arise as to who is in the position of parent in relation to a child when there are issues of illegitimacy, surrogacy
or other disputed parenthood.
When a child or other person incapable of looking after themselves requires care by someone who may not be his or her natural or adoptive parent. They are sometimes said to be wards of a legal guardian
. This relationship, however, does not change the status of the child as a minor, and, like a parent, the guardian has no status, though rights and duties are expected between the people.
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
rather than by the consensual acts
Consent
Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.- Types of consent :*Implied consent is a controversial form of consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person's actions and the facts and...
of the parties
Party (law)
A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. Parties include: plaintiff , defendant , petitioner , respondent , cross-complainant A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be...
, and it is in rem
In rem
In rem is Latin for "against a thing." In a lawsuit, an action in rem is directed towards a piece of property rather than against a person . The action disputes or seeks to transfer title to property. When title to real estate In rem is Latin for "against a thing." In a lawsuit, an action in rem...
, i.e. these conditions must be recognised by the world. It is the qualities of universality and permanence that distinguish status from consensual relationships such as employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
and agency
Agency (law)
The law of agency is an area of commercial law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual, or non-contractual set of relationships when a person, called the agent, is authorized to act on behalf of another to create a legal relationship with a third party...
. Hence, a person's status and its attributes are set by the law of the domicile
Domicile
*In architecture, a general term for a place of residence or "permanent residence" in legal terms*Domicile , the zodiac sign over which a planet has rulership...
if born in a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
state, or by the law of nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
if born in a civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
state and this status and its attendant capacities
Capacity (law)
The capacity of both natural and legal persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will...
should be recognised wherever the person may later travel.
Identity/personality
In early laws, an outlawOutlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
was a person who, by judicial process, was deprived of all normal rights as a human being unless and until a court reversed itself through an affirmative act of inlawry. This was a form of civil death
Civil death
Civil death is a term that refers to the loss of all or almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a felony or due to an act by the government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights...
. Similarly, a slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
was a chattel or possession, and had no legal personality except that, in the U.S., some of the Free States did allow limited legal personality. Legal personality could be surrendered voluntarily by becoming a monk or by travelling, e.g. the first provisions of the French Civil Code deny civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
to foreigners. As an aspect of the social contract
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
between a state and the citizens who owe it allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
, most developed legal systems contain positive provisions defining each individual's legal identity and its attributes. All matters of social rank or caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
are examples of personal status, the modern extremes of which would be nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and the 200 million dalits, the untouchables of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Full age or minority
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
are in many laws treated as aspects of personal status. The same thing is true of the loss of capacity
Capacity (law)
The capacity of both natural and legal persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will...
by reason of insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
or other mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. This is of critical importance if a person wishes to enter into a marriage
Marriage (conflict)
In conflict of laws, the issue of marriage has assumed increasing public policy significance in a world of increasing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-national relationships...
or a contract
Contract (conflict)
In the conflict of laws, the validity of a contract with one or more foreign law elements will be decided by reference to the so-called "proper law" of the contract.-History:...
having travelled to a state where the age of minority is different or the form of marriage is apparently not consistent with the laws of the "home" state.
Fictitious persons or legal entities may be created by law through the act of incorporation
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
and these corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s are quite separate from the natural person
Natural person
Variously, in jurisprudence, a natural person is a human being, as opposed to an artificial, legal or juristic person, i.e., an organization that the law treats for some purposes as if it were a person distinct from its members or owner...
s who may be involved. The holders of some public offices are vested with the office, its terms are fixed by law, and every person within the state must recognise the existence of the office and its rights and duties, e.g. an archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
or a corporation may represent a business association with its own purposes and capacities. It would be commercially inconvenient if the status of the entity changed depending on the laws of the place where commercial transactions were effected. For example, general partnership
General partnership
In the commercial and legal parlance of most countries, a general partnership or simply a partnership, refers to an association of persons or an unincorporated company with the following major features:...
s have a separate legal personality in some states but not in others.
Personal status
With some exceptions, it is universally accepted that marriageMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
bonds lawfully entered into under the laws of any country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
, which changes the status of a person from "independent", "single" or "unmarried" to "a married person", will be recognized as such by all other countries in the world, and the partners to the marriage assume the status of husband
Husband
A husband is a male participant in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between cultures and has varied over time...
and wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
. That status goes with the people no matter where in the world the spouses may find themselves (except where local public policy
Public policy (law)
In private international law, the public policy doctrine or ordre public concerns the body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses the social, moral and economic values that tie a society together: values that vary in different cultures and change...
is invoked). However, though they are recognized as husband and wife, pursuant to a marriage anywhere in the world, the mutual rights and duties owed by the spouses are determined by the law or custom of the country in which they find themselves.
Under normal circumstances, marriage exists until either one of the parties dies or until it is ended by legal process through nullity
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
or divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. The circumstances in which that status is to be brought to an end is of sufficient interest to the State that it usually regulates the circumstances in which the family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
relationship
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
may be terminated. On the death of a spouse, the survivor's personal status changes to "widow" or "widower", and on the termination of the marriage, both of their status changes to "divorcee".
The emotional ties between parent
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
s and their children come into being through the natural blood relationship but the law attaches a series of right and duties to all involved. A child has the status of a minor
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
. Another is the status of legitimacy
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
, though many countries have now ceased to distinguish on that basis. A legitimate child is usually defined as one born to parents who are married to each other; the child is illegitimate if the relationship is not recognized by the law, but usually has the opportunity to change status if the parents subsequently marry. Adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
usually creates a legal relationship similar to that of natural parent and child. In that event, legitimacy or otherwise of the child is not an issue. A parent does not have status as a parent. Issues may arise as to who is in the position of parent in relation to a child when there are issues of illegitimacy, surrogacy
Surrogacy
Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person. This woman may be the child's genetic mother , or she may carry the pregnancy to delivery after having an embryo, to which she has no genetic relationship whatsoever, transferred to her uterus...
or other disputed parenthood.
When a child or other person incapable of looking after themselves requires care by someone who may not be his or her natural or adoptive parent. They are sometimes said to be wards of a legal guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
. This relationship, however, does not change the status of the child as a minor, and, like a parent, the guardian has no status, though rights and duties are expected between the people.