Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 18 > Chapter 11 > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Public agency: means any political subdivision, including municipalities, counties, school districts, and any agency or department of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 18-11-102
• 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.
• 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
• Tribal government: means the officially recognized government of any Indian tribe, nation, or other organized group or community located in Montana exercising self-government powers and recognized as eligible for services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. See Montana Code 18-11-102
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201