Also known as: articles · articuli · articulus · clauses · provisions
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A numbered section or provision within a constitution, statute, code, or similar legal instrument that sets forth a distinct rule or principle. The provision often includes enforcement mechanisms or effective-date clauses.
State officials refused to register female citizens who met all other qualifications. The citizens sued, asserting that the denial violated Article XIX protecting voting rights. The court held the state action invalid under the article and ordered the registrations to proceed.
Landlord and tenant negotiated an oral promise to execute a five-year lease but never signed a writing. When the landlord later refused to honor the deal, the tenant sued for specific performance. The court dismissed the claim because the agreement fell within the statute of frauds article and lacked the required writing.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A settlor created a trust leaving an outright remainder to a disabled grandchild. Years later the trustee petitioned to convert the remainder into a special-needs trust to preserve government benefits. The court granted the modification under the equitable-deviation article because unanticipated circumstances made the change consistent with the settlor's purposes.
A plaintiff filed a federal diversity suit for breach of contract and later sought to add a related state-law tort claim against the same defendant. The defendant moved to dismiss the tort claim for lack of jurisdiction. The court retained the claim under the supplemental-jurisdiction article because it formed part of the same case or controversy as the original action.
Spouses facing divorce negotiated a written agreement dividing property and setting child support. One spouse later asked the court to ignore the property terms. The court enforced the agreement under the separation-agreement article because it satisfied the statutory requirements for a separation agreement in a dissolution proceeding.
A prospective adoptive parent filed a petition in a county where neither she nor the child resided. The natural parents objected on venue grounds. The court dismissed the petition under the adoption-venue article because state law required the filer to be a resident of the county where the adoption petition was filed.
An article is a numbered division that may contain multiple sections or subsections. Courts treat the article as the operative unit when the text refers to 'this article' for enforcement or effective-date purposes.
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Yes. When unanticipated circumstances arise, a court may alter administrative or dispositive provisions if the change advances the settlor's purposes and protects trust assets.
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Yes. The provision expressly includes claims that involve joinder or intervention of additional parties so long as the claims form part of the same Article III case or controversy.
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The agreement must be in writing and address property division, maintenance, and child custody or support. Courts then treat its non-child terms as binding unless unconscionable.
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…and to make out and record and affix the seal to civil commissions after they shall have been signed by the President. These provisions contemplate three distinct operations: nomination which is the President's sole voluntary act; the appointment which is also the President's voluntary act performed by and with the advice…