Legal documents

A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person or entity, and the general public, in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.

A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most notably by the Holy Roman Emperors.

A work permit is the permission to take a job within a foreign country.

A warehouse receipt is a document that provides proof of ownership of commodities (e.g., bars of copper) that are stored in a warehouse, vault, or depository for safekeeping.

In legal terminology, a rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response (it literally means 'written back') to a specific demand made by its addressee.

A bill of lading (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BoL) is a document issued by a carrier (or his agent) to acknowledge receipt of a shipment of cargo.

A contract is a voluntary arrangement between two or more parties that is enforceable at law as a binding legal agreement.

A report or account is any informational work (usually of writing, speech, television, or film) made with the specific intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a widely presentable form.

A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, with the payer named on the document.

A promissory note is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financial instrument), in which one party (the maker or issuer) promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms.

A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods.

A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child.

Tax returns in the United States are reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or with the state or local tax collection agency (California Franchise Tax Board, for example) containing information used to calculate income tax or other taxes.

A letter of credit is a document, typically from a bank (issuing bank), assuring that a seller (beneficiary) will receive payment up to the amount of the letter of credit, as long as certain documentary delivery conditions have been met.

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage, civil union or any other agreement prior to the main agreement by the people intending to marry or contract with each other.

A will or testament is a legal document by which a person, the testator, expresses his or her wishes as to how his or her property is to be distributed at death, and names one or more persons, the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution.

In law, a judgment is a decision of a court regarding the rights and liabilities of parties in a legal action or proceeding.

A writ of execution (also known as an execution) is a court order granted to put in force a judgment of possession obtained by a plaintiff from a court.

The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

In a contract of carriage, the consignee is the entity who is financially responsible (the buyer) for the receipt of a shipment.

A letter of intent may be presented by one party to another party and subsequently negotiated before execution (or signature.) If carefully negotiated, an LOI may serve to protect both parties to a transaction.

An amicus curiae (literally, friend of the court; plural, amici curiae) is someone who is not a party to a case and is not solicited by a party, but who assists a court by offering information that bears on the case.

A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset.

A contractual term is "Any provision forming part of a contract".

The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) govern pleading in England and Wales.

Contracts are often amended when the market changes.

Legal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process, or agreement.