DECLARATION
declaration,n.1. A formal statement, proclamation, or announcement, esp. one embodied in an
instrument. Cf. AFFIDAVIT.
declaration of alienage.The declaration of a citizen or subject having dual citizenship that the
person wishes to renounce the citizenship of one state. • For the declaration to be effective, the
person making it must be of full age and not under any disability.
declaration of default.A creditor’s notice to a debtor regarding the debtor’s failure to perform
an obligation, such as making a payment.
declaration of dividend.A company’s setting aside of a portion of its earnings or profits for
distribution to its shareholders. See DIVIDEND. [Cases: Corporations 152. C.J.S. Corporations
§§ 295–299.]
declaration of homestead.A statement required to be filed with a state or local authority to
prove property ownership in order to claim homestead-exemption rights. See HOMESTEAD.
[Cases: Homestead 41.]
declaration of intention.An alien’s formal statement resolving to become a U.S. citizen and to
renounce allegiance to any other government or country. [Cases: Aliens 68(2).]
declaration of legitimacy.A formal or legal pronouncement that a child is legitimate. [Cases:
Children Out-of-Wedlock 1, 8. C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 2–11, 23.]
declaration of trust. 1. The act by which the person who holds legal title to property or an
estate acknowledges that the property is being held in trust for another person or for certain
specified purposes. [Cases: Trusts 1. C.J.S. Trover and Conversion §§ 1–9, 14–18.] 2. The
instrument that creates a trust. — Also termed (in sense 2) trust instrument; trust deed; trust
agreement. [Cases: Trusts 19. C.J.S. Trover and Conversion § 35.]
judicial declaration.Hist. Scots law. 1. A party’s statement, made in court and transcribed,
about a case’s material facts. 2. An accused’s statement, made after an arrest and taken down in
2.Int’l law. The part of a treaty containing the stipulations under which the parties agree to
conduct their actions; TREATY(1).3.Int’l law. A country’s unilateral pronouncement that affects
the rights and duties of other countries.
declaration of war.A country’s announcement that it is officially engaged in war against
another country. [Cases: War and National Emergency 7. C.J.S. War and National Defense §§ 2,
5.]
4. A document that governs legal rights to certain types of real property, such as a
condominium or a residential subdivision. [Cases: Condominium 3. C.J.S. Estates §§ 197–201,
203–206.] 5. A listing of the merchandise that a person intends to bring into the United States. •
This listing is given to U.S. Customs when one enters the country. [Cases: Customs Duties 65.
C.J.S. Customs Duties §§ 82–84.] 6.Evidence. An unsworn statement made by someone having
knowledge of facts relating to an event in dispute. [Cases: Evidence 266–313. C.J.S. Evidence
§§ 259–260, 267, 285–338, 340–341, 343.]
deathbed declaration.See dying declaration.
declaration against interest.A statement by a person who is not a party to a suit and is not
available to testify at trial, discussing a matter that is within the declarant’s personal knowledge
and is adverse to the declarant’s interest. • Such a statement is admissible into evidence as an
exception to the hearsay rule. Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). See admission against interest under
ADMISSION. — Also termed self-disserving declaration. See admission against interest under
ADMISSION(1). [Cases: Criminal Law 417(15); Evidence 272. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 960;
Evidence §§ 293–294, 296–298.]
declaration of pain.A person’s exclamation of present pain, which operates as an exception to
the hearsay rule. Fed. R. Evid. 803(3). [Cases: Criminal Law 419(2.20); Evidence 268. C.J.S.
Criminal Law § 862; Evidence §§ 314–318, 325, 327–328, 330.]
declaration of state of mind.A person’s state-of-mind statement that operates as an exception
to the hearsay rule. Fed. R. Evid. 803(3). [Cases: Criminal Law 419(2.20); Evidence 268.
C.J.S. Criminal Law § 862; Evidence §§ 314–318, 325, 327–328, 330.]
dying declaration.A statement by a person who believes that death is imminent, relating to the
cause or circumstances of the person’s impending death. • The statement is admissible in evidence
as an exception to the hearsay rule. — Also termed deathbed declaration; ante mortem statement.
[Cases: Evidence 275.5; Homicide 1075. C.J.S. Evidence § 288.]
“[A] rule peculiar to criminal cases is the exception to the rule respecting hearsay evidence
which renders dying declarations as to the cause of death admissible in trials for murder or
manslaughter…. The earliest emphatic statement of it … is to be found in Woodcock’s case, decided
in 1789 …. This case refers to a decision in 1720 … and to the case of R. v Reason and Tranter,
decided in 1722. That case, however, says nothing as to any limitation on the rule. A series of
cases from 1678 to 1765 show that during that period declarations of deceased persons as to the
cause of their death were admitted even though the declarants had hopes of recovery when they
were made.” 1 James Fitzjames Stephen, A History of the Criminal Law of England 447–48
(1883).
self-disserving declaration.See declaration against interest.
self-serving declaration.An out-of-court statement made to benefit one’s own interest. [Cases:
Criminal Law 413; Evidence 271. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 877; Evidence § 289.]
7.Common-law pleading. The plaintiff’s first pleading in a civil action. • It is an amplification
of the original writ on which the action is founded, with the additional circumstances of the time
and place of injury. In a real action, the declaration is called a count. Today the equivalent term in
English law is statement of claim; in most American jurisdictions, it is called a petition or
complaint. — Also termed narratio. See COUNT(2), (3). Cf. PLEA (2). [Cases: Pleading 41.
C.J.S. Pleading § 96.]“The declaration is a statement of all material facts constituting the plaintiff’s
cause of action in a methodical and legal form. It consists of the following parts: (a) Statement of
title of court. (b) Statement of venue in the margin. (c) The commencement. (d) The body, or
statement of the cause of action. (e) The conclusion.” Benjamin J. Shipman, Handbook of
Common-Law Pleading § 76, at 192 (Henry Winthrop Ballantine ed., 3d ed. 1923).
declaration in chief.A declaration for the principal cause of action.
8. A formal, written statement — resembling an affidavit but not notarized or sworn to — that
attests, under penalty of perjury, to facts known by the declarant. • Such a declaration, if properly
prepared, is admissible in federal court with the same effect as an affidavit. 28 USCA § 1746. —
Also termed declaration under penalty of perjury; unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury.
Cf. AFFIDAVIT. 9.Int’l law. An oral or written statement, unilaterally made, by which a state
expresses its will, intent, or opinion when acting in the field of international relations. 10.See
declaratory judgment under JUDGMENT. 11.DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. — declare,vb. —
declaratory,adj. [Blacks Law 8th]