Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 7 > Chapter 3 > Part 43 - Municipal Commission-Manager Government

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency: means a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state of Montana or of a political subdivision of the state, a department, agency, or instrumentality of two or more states or two or more political subdivisions of the state or of two or more states, or a person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain as provided in Title 70, chapter 30. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Ambulance service: means a person providing ground or air ambulance transport, licensed under 50-6-306, that:

  (a)is in-network with at least two insurers that together provide coverage for at least 25% of health insurance insureds in the state; or

  (b)accepts insurance, including copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles, as payment in full and does not offer memberships under Title 33, chapter 2, part 22. See Montana Code 71-3-1113

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appraisal: means a written statement, independently and impartially prepared by a qualified appraiser, setting forth an opinion of defined value of an adequately described property as of a specified date and supported by the presentation and analysis of relevant market information. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary: means the person named or otherwise designated in a trust indenture as the person for whose benefit a trust indenture is given or the person's successor in interest, who may not be the trustee. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Beneficiary: means a person entitled to insurance benefits. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Business: means any lawful activity, except a farm operation, conducted:

  (a)primarily for the purchase, sale, lease, and rental of personal and real property and for the manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, or any other personal property;

  (b)primarily for the sale of services to the public;

  (c)primarily by a nonprofit organization; or

  (d)solely for the purposes of paying moving or related expenses to assist in the purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, personal property, or services by the erection and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display or displays, whether or not the display or displays are located on the premises on which any of the activities included as a business are conducted. See Montana Code 70-31-102

• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• Commencement of work: means the date of the first visible change in the physical condition of the real estate caused by the first person furnishing services or materials pursuant to a particular real estate improvement contract. See Montana Code 71-3-522
• Common disaster: A sudden and extraordinary misfortune that brings about the simultaneous or near-simultaneous deaths of two or more associated persons, such as husband and wife.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract price: means the amount agreed upon by the contracting parties for performing services and furnishing materials covered by the contract, increased or diminished by:

  (i)the price of change orders or extras;

  (ii)any amounts attributable to altered specifications; or

  (iii)a breach of contract, including but not limited to defects in workmanship or materials. See Montana Code 71-3-522

• Contracting owner: means a person who owns an interest in real estate and who, personally or through an agent, enters into an express or implied contract for the improvement of the real estate. See Montana Code 71-3-522
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Customary: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dentist: means a person practicing dentistry as provided in 37-4-101. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Deposition: means a written declaration under oath or affirmation, made upon notice to the adverse party for the purpose of enabling the adverse party to attend and cross-examine. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Dower: A widow
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Farm operation: means any activity conducted solely or primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or commodities, including timber, for sale or home use and customarily producing agricultural products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be capable of contributing materially to the operator's support. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Federal financial assistance: means a grant, loan, or contribution provided by the United States, except any federal guarantee or insurance. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• First purchaser: means the first person who under contract purchases oil or gas from an interest owner at or after the time the oil or gas is severed. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Grantor: means the person conveying real property by a trust indenture as security for the performance of an obligation. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance: means a contract through which a person, the insurer, undertakes to indemnify another, the insured, or pay or provide a determinable amount or benefit upon determinable contingencies. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Insurer: has the meaning of a health insurance issuer provided in 33-22-140. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interest owner: means a person:

  (a)who owns an entire or a fractional interest of any kind or nature in the oil or gas at the time it is severed; or

  (b)who has a right, either express or implied, to receive a monetary payment determined by the value of the severed oil or gas. See Montana Code 71-3-1602

• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Leasehold: means a tenant's leasehold interest, as defined in 30-2A-103, in property on which the oil or gas well is located. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• lien: means a lien against real estate arising under this part. See Montana Code 71-3-522
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• lumber: as used in this part , means all logs or other timber sawed or split for use, including beams, joists, planks, boards, shingles, laths, staves, hoops, and every article of any nature or description manufactured from sawlogs or other timber. See Montana Code 71-3-601
• Material: means material, fuel, machinery, equipment, appliances, buildings, structures, tools, bits, or supplies but does not include drilling rigs or hoists or their integral component parts except wire lines. See Montana Code 71-3-1001
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes an affirmation or declaration. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Operator: means any person engaged in the severance of oil or gas on the operator's own behalf, on behalf of the operator and other persons, or on behalf of other persons. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Original contractor: means a contractor who contracts directly with the contracting owner. See Montana Code 71-3-522
• Outpatient center for surgical services: means a facility registered as provided in 50-32-314. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Owner: includes a person holding any interest in the legal or equitable title, or both, and purchasers under executory contract. See Montana Code 71-3-1001
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, or association. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Person: means an individual, a corporation, an organization, or other legal entity. See Montana Code 71-3-1113
• Person: means any individual, executor, administrator, agent, trustee, or receiver or an estate, institution, business trust, trust of any other kind, firm, corporation, partnership, cooperative, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, sole proprietorship, government agency, association, or any other group acting as a unit. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Purchaser: means a person who under contract purchases oil or gas from a first purchaser. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real estate improvement contract: means an agreement to perform services, including labor, or to furnish materials for the purpose of producing a change in the physical condition of the real estate, including:

  (i)alteration of the surface by excavation, fill, change in grade, or change in a shore, bank, or flood plain of a stream, swamp, or body of water;

  (ii)construction or installation on, above, or below the surface of land;

  (iii)demolition, repair, remodeling, or removal of a structure previously constructed or installed;

  (iv)seeding, sodding, or other landscape operation;

  (v)surface or subsurface testing, boring, or analysis; and

  (vi)preparation of plans, surveys, or architectural or engineering plans or drawings for any change in the physical condition of the real estate, regardless of whether they are used to produce a change in the physical condition of the real estate. See Montana Code 71-3-522

• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Servicer: means a person who collects loan payments on behalf of a beneficiary. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• severance: means the taking, extraction, or production from the leasehold of oil or gas in any manner. See Montana Code 71-3-1602
• Sex: means the organization of the body parts and gametes for reproduction in human beings and other organisms. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• subscription: includes the mark of a person who cannot write if the person's name is written near the mark by another person who also signs that person's own name as a witness. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Third persons: means all persons who are not parties to the obligation or transaction concerning which the phrase is used. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Title insurance producer: means a person who holds a valid title insurance producer's license and is authorized in writing by a title insurer to:

  (i)solicit title insurance business;

  (ii)collect rates;

  (iii)determine insurability in accordance with underwriting rules and standards of the insurer; or

  (iv)issue policies of the title insurer. See Montana Code 71-1-303

• Title insurer: means an insurer formed and authorized under the laws of this state to transact the business of title insurance in this state or a foreign or alien insurer authorized to transact title insurance in this state. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust indenture: means an indenture executed in conformity with this part and conveying real property to a trustee in trust to secure the performance of an obligation of the grantor or other person named in the indenture to a beneficiary. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Trustee: means a person to whom the legal title to real property is conveyed by a trust indenture or the person's successor in interest. See Montana Code 71-1-303
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Usual: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Willfully: when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted, means a purpose or willingness to commit the act or make the omission referred to. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ: means an order in writing issued in the name of the state or of a court or judicial officer. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203