Paralegal Core
Competency Exam Study
Guide 2026 | Practice
Questions, Answers &
Skills Review
|Graded A+ | Guaranteed
success|
Updated 2026 Questions and Answers
100% Verified Exam Prep and Comprehensive
Rationales
Included
, Advance Directive Document that expresses the health care wishes of the signor.
Advance Sheets Contains recent cases or statutes enacted or decided after the hardbound
volume was published. The documents in the ___ ___ will be included in the next
hardbound volume of the published set.
Adverse Possession Acquiring title through taking possession of land that belongs to another without
the owner's consent and retaining possession for a statutory amount of time. It
must be: (i) hostile, meaning it must be without the owner's consent; (ii); actual,
meaning there must be physical dominion and control exerted over the property;
(iii) open and notorious, meaning anyone would be able to determine possession
for the entire statutory period; and (v) exclusive, meaning that the adverse
possessor cannot share use of the land in question with its title owner.
Affidavit A sworn statement in writing, made under oath.
Affirmative Defense (civil) A fact raised by the defendant that constitutes a defense to the complaint.
Affirmative Defense (criminal) A set of facts that tend to excuse the defendant from the crime with which they
have been charged.
Alimony An award of money given from one spouse to the other. Duration of ___ can be for
a very specific time period and will automatically terminate upon a specific date,
or it may be unlimited, terminating only upon the death of the payor spouse or the
payee spouse. ___ is also known as "Spousal Separate Maintenance" and/or
"Spousal Support." It is important to note that, in some jurisdictions, spousal
support and ___ are different.
Alimony Pendente Lite (APL) An award of money given from one spouse to the other prior to entry of a final
decree; more literally, pending the litigation.
American Law Reports (ALR) Published in a series; a secondary legal authority that publishes selected cases
followed by extensive articles (a/k/a annotations) which discuss the issues raised.
Ancestor Relative of a previous generation.
Ancillary Administration Estate administration established in a state where property is located outside of
the domiciliary state.
Annulment The act of making something void and wiping it out completely.
Anticipatory Repudiation Occurs when one party positively states that they will not substantially perform a
contract.
Appeal To ask a court of appellate jurisdiction to review the decision of the lower court of
the basis that the lower court made an error of law.
Appellant The party who asks the higher court to review the lower/trial court's decision.
Competency Exam Study
Guide 2026 | Practice
Questions, Answers &
Skills Review
|Graded A+ | Guaranteed
success|
Updated 2026 Questions and Answers
100% Verified Exam Prep and Comprehensive
Rationales
Included
, Advance Directive Document that expresses the health care wishes of the signor.
Advance Sheets Contains recent cases or statutes enacted or decided after the hardbound
volume was published. The documents in the ___ ___ will be included in the next
hardbound volume of the published set.
Adverse Possession Acquiring title through taking possession of land that belongs to another without
the owner's consent and retaining possession for a statutory amount of time. It
must be: (i) hostile, meaning it must be without the owner's consent; (ii); actual,
meaning there must be physical dominion and control exerted over the property;
(iii) open and notorious, meaning anyone would be able to determine possession
for the entire statutory period; and (v) exclusive, meaning that the adverse
possessor cannot share use of the land in question with its title owner.
Affidavit A sworn statement in writing, made under oath.
Affirmative Defense (civil) A fact raised by the defendant that constitutes a defense to the complaint.
Affirmative Defense (criminal) A set of facts that tend to excuse the defendant from the crime with which they
have been charged.
Alimony An award of money given from one spouse to the other. Duration of ___ can be for
a very specific time period and will automatically terminate upon a specific date,
or it may be unlimited, terminating only upon the death of the payor spouse or the
payee spouse. ___ is also known as "Spousal Separate Maintenance" and/or
"Spousal Support." It is important to note that, in some jurisdictions, spousal
support and ___ are different.
Alimony Pendente Lite (APL) An award of money given from one spouse to the other prior to entry of a final
decree; more literally, pending the litigation.
American Law Reports (ALR) Published in a series; a secondary legal authority that publishes selected cases
followed by extensive articles (a/k/a annotations) which discuss the issues raised.
Ancestor Relative of a previous generation.
Ancillary Administration Estate administration established in a state where property is located outside of
the domiciliary state.
Annulment The act of making something void and wiping it out completely.
Anticipatory Repudiation Occurs when one party positively states that they will not substantially perform a
contract.
Appeal To ask a court of appellate jurisdiction to review the decision of the lower court of
the basis that the lower court made an error of law.
Appellant The party who asks the higher court to review the lower/trial court's decision.
