Definition of Abandonment (Legal Term)

Abandonment is a legal term that has two chief meanings. In the field of property law, abandonment occurs when a person intentionally gives up all rights to something he or she owns. For example, if a person purposely throws away a ring, it has been abandoned. The first person to take possession of the ring becomes the new owner. But if a person loses a ring, even through carelessness, it has not been abandoned.

In family law, abandonment refers to the desertion of a husband, wife, or child without intention to support the person. Most states of the United States make it a crime for a parent to abandon a child. A father or mother who abandons a youngster may lose the right to raise the child. In the past, only men were legally responsible for the support of their families. Today, most states make men and women equally responsible for the support of their wife or husband and children.

Abandonment, also called desertion, has traditionally been grounds for divorce in the United States (see Desertion). But in the last half of the 1900's, all U.S. states legalized no-fault divorce, which requires only that one of the partners testify that the marriage has failed. As a result of no-fault divorce, few U.S. residents seek divorce on the ground of abandonment.

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The Life Story of Jose Abad Santos

Jose Abad Santos (1886-1942) was a Filipino lawyer who served as chief justice and secretary of state of the Philippines. Abad Santos was a close adviser to President Manuel L. Quezon, acting as administrator of the government after President Quezon left the country during World War II(1939-1945). Abad Santos was captured and executed by Japanese soldiers shortly after Quezon's departure.

Abad Santos trained as a lawyer on a government scholarship in the United States, at Northwestern University in Illinois and at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to the Philippines, he was appointed to the Philippine bar as a court interpreter in 1911 and became assistant attorney at the Bureau of Justice in 1918. He served as an adviser to the first independence mission to the United States in 1919.

In 1922, Abad Santos was appointed undersecretary of justice, a position he held for three months until his promotion to secretary of justice in April 1922. In this position, he worked to improve the rights of prisoners. In 1932, Abad Santos was appointed associate justice of the Philippines. He left this position in 1938 to serve his third term as secretary of justice. In December 1941 he was appointed chief justice of the Philippines.

In 1941, President Quezon and several members of the government, including Abad Santos, fled from Manila, the capital, to the nearby island of Corregidor. In the government in exile, Abad Santos remained chief justice and secretary of justice, and was also appointed the acting secretary of finance, agriculture, and commerce.

President Quezon left for the United States in March 1942, but Abad Santos remained in the Philippines, taking over responsibility for the administration of the government. Abad Santos was captured by Japanese soldiers on April 11, 1942. He refused to cooperate with the Japanese and was executed on May 2, 1942.

Jose Abad Santos was born on Feb. 19, 1886, in San Fernando, Pampanga, in the Philippines. He served as president of the Philippine Bar Association. His charity work included work with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).

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The Life Story of Sani Abacha

Sani Abacha (1943-1998) was a Nigerian Army general, seized the presidency of Nigeria in a military coup in 1993 and ruled the country as head of a military dictatorship until 1998.

Abacha was commissioned as an officer in the Nigerian Army in 1963. In 1966, Abacha was one of a group of northern officers who brought down the military government of General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and supported the leadership of General Yakubu Gowon. Abacha fought for the Nigerian government in the war against the breakaway region of Biafra (1967-1970). In 1975, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Five years later, he became a brigadier and took command of Nigeria's 9th Mechanized Brigade.

In 1983, in a military take-over led by General Mohammed Buhari, Abacha became commander of the 2nd Mechanized Division and a member of Nigeria's Supreme Military Council. He went on to become a major general in 1984.

In 1985, Abacha helped overthrow Buhari and supported the dictatorship of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. Under Babangida, Abacha became chief of staff of the Army and then defense minister and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He became a lieutenant general in 1987.

In 1993, the Army allowed elections for a new civilian government. Chief Moshood Abiola won the election for president. However, Babangida's regime refused to accept the election result and, in the riots that followed, Babangida lost power. Abacha dismissed the interim civilian government, led by Chief Ernest Shonekan, and took control of Nigeria in November 1993. Although he promised an early return to civilian government, the promise was never kept. In 1994, Abacha banned political activities and imprisoned his political opponents, including Chief Abiola. He also imprisoned human rights activists and striking workers. In 1995, the Abacha regime executed or imprisoned a large number of military officers said to have been involved in a coup attempt. In November 1995, Abacha provoked international condemnation when he executed the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other politically active members of the Ogoni people. The action resulted in the suspension of Nigeria's membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and the stopping of international aid to the country.

During Abacha's regime, corruption was rampant and Nigeria's economy suffered. Abacha enforced his will through terror campaigns and shootings. In 1996, he reacted to criticism from President Nelson Mandela of South Africa by forbidding the Nigerian national soccer team's defense of their African championship title in Mandela's country. Abacha also ignored pleas from Pope John Paul II for the release of a group of named political prisoners. After Abacha died, reportedly of a heart attack, on June 8, 1998, he was succeeded by another military leader, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Sani Abacha was born on Sept. 20, 1943, in Kano, northern Nigeria. He was a member of the Kanuri ethnic group, who live in northeastern Nigeria. He went to school in Kano and then joined the Nigerian Army. He received his military training at the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna and the Mons Defence Officers' Cadet Training College, Aldershot, in England.

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Interesting Facts about Abacá

Abacá is a plant grown in Borneo, the Philippines, and Sumatra for its fiber. The plant grows about 20 feet (6 meters) high and has large oblong leaves. The leaves grow from the trunk of the plant, and the bases of the leaves form a sheath (covering) around the trunk. These sheaths contain the valuable fiber. The coarse fibers range from 5 to 11 1/2 feet (1.5 to 3.5 meters) in length.

They are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose, lignin, and pectin. After the fiber has been separated, it is sold under the name manila. The fiber gets its name from the major city of the Philippines.

Growers harvest abacá fields every three to eight months. They cut down the mature plants, but allow the roots to remain in the ground. New plants grow from the old roots. The leaf sheaths are detached in strips. The pulp is scraped off, leaving only the fiber strands, which are twisted into rope. Abacá fiber is strong and has great natural resistance to water, sun, and wind. In addition, abacá is also used for paper products.

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AARP, World's Largest Private Nonprofit Membership Organization

AARP is one of the largest private nonprofit membership organizations in the world. Its name is a shortened form of its original title, the American Association of Retired Persons. AARP has more than 40 million members, who must be 50 years old or older. Thousands of volunteers also assist AARP in educational and community service programs.

AARP's main purpose is to address the needs of older people in the United States. It does this by providing them with education and services and by representing their interests before government agencies and other public bodies. AARP also works to improve the lives of older people by promoting their independence and dignity and by encouraging them to pursue personal goals. AARP offers members a number of benefits, including group health insurance, legal services, and a mail-order pharmacy. The organization's magazine, AARP The Magazine, is the largest circulation magazine in the United States.

Ethel Percy Andrus, a retired educator, founded the American Association of Retired Persons in 1958. The organization changed its name to AARP in 1998. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. The AARP website at http://www.aarp.org provides additional information.

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Hank Aaron, Best Hitter in the History of Baseball

Hank Aaron is one of the best hitters in the history of baseball. For more than 30 years, Aaron held the major league career record for regular-season home runs, with 755. He hit his 715th home run, which broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 homers, on April 8, 1974. Aaron’s record stood until Aug. 7, 2007, when it was broken by Barry Bonds.

Aaron played for the Milwaukee (later Atlanta) Braves of the National League from 1954 through 1974. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League following the 1974 season and retired as a player after the 1976 season. Aaron played right field most of his career but also played left field, center field, and first base. He was a designated hitter his final two seasons.

Aaron led the National League in home runs in 1957, 1963, 1966, and 1967. He won the league batting championship twice. He also holds the major league career record for runs batted in—2,297. Aaron led the National League in runs batted in four times. He received the 1976 Spingarn Medal, and he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Henry Louis Aaron was born on Feb. 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama.

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Alvar Aalto, Finnish Architect, Town Planner, and Furniture Designer

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect, town planner, and furniture designer. He gained fame for buildings that imaginatively combine modern design principles with traditional materials, especially wood. Aalto often used flowing, wavy forms that marked a strong departure from the strict geometric lines favored by other modern architects.

Aalto designed his first two major works in the late 1920's. They were a tuberculosis sanitarium in Paimio, Finland, near Turku, and a municipal library in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, in Russia). He designed birchwood tables and chairs for these projects that made him famous as a furniture designer. His other buildings include a number of civic, university, and apartment buildings. The Hall of Residence (1947-1949), at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with its curved facade, is one of his most distinguished buildings in North America. The Aalto Theater, an opera house he designed in Essen, Germany, opened in 1988, after his death.

Aalto's projects as a town planner include a town center in Seinajoki, Finland, that was completed in 1966. The center features a series of small wedge-shaped buildings, largely made of wood. Aalto was born on Feb. 3, 1898, in Kuortane, near Vaasa. He died on May 11, 1976.

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