As soon as, by reasonable exertion, confined to the object, a thlnp may be done. Thus, when a defendant is ordered to plead forthwith, he must plead within twenty-four hours. When a statute enacts that an act is to be done "forthwith," it means that the act is to be done within a reasonable time. … [Read more...]

In land laws and conveyancing, in those regions where grants, transfers, and deeds are made with reference to the subdivisions of the government survey, this term means forty acres of land in the form of a square, being the tract obtained by quartering a section of land (010 acres) and again quartering one of the quarters. Lente v. Clarke, 22 Fla. 515, 1 South. 149. … [Read more...]

Children taken out of the home of biological parents, usually due to neglect or abuse, and placed in a temporary home of people who provide food, shelter and care for the children. See foster care. … [Read more...]

Force. In old English law. Force used by an accessary, to enable the principal to commit a crime, as by binding or holding a person while another killed him, or by aiding or counseling in any way, or commanding the act to be done. Bract fols. 138, 138b. According to Lord Coke, fortlu was a word of art, and properly signified the furnishing of a weapon of force to do the fact, … [Read more...]

In old English forest law. The court of attachment in forests, or wood-mote court. … [Read more...]