Terms Used In California Codes > Streets and Highways Code > Division 16 > Part 1 - JOINT HIGHWAY DISTRICTS

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• administrator: means the Director of Employment Development. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 821.3
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• assessed value: means 25 percent of full value to, and including, the 1980-81 fiscal year, and 100 percent of full value for the 1981-82 fiscal year and fiscal years thereafter. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 26
• Association: means any corporation organized under this part. See California Corporations Code 13202
• 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 a person to whom a donative transfer of property is made or that person's successor in interest, and:

  California Probate Code 24

• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Child: means any individual entitled to take as a child under this code by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved. See California Probate Code 26
• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town. See California Streets and Highways Code 15
• City: includes incorporated city, city and county, municipal corporation, municipality, town and incorporated town. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 13
• Claim: means a demand for payment for any of the following, whether due, not due, accrued or not accrued, or contingent, and whether liquidated or unliquidated:

  California Probate Code 9000

• commission: means the California Transportation Commission. See California Streets and Highways Code 22
• Community property: means :

  California Probate Code 28

• Conservatee: includes a limited conservatee. See California Probate Code 29
• Conservator: includes a limited conservator. See California Probate Code 30
• Construction: includes :

  California Streets and Highways Code 29

• Contingent beneficiary: Receiver of property or benefits if the first named beneficiary fails to receive any or all of the property or benefits in question before his (her) death.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County: includes "city and county. See California Corporations Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Streets and Highways Code 14
• County: includes city and county. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• custody: means the legal right to custody of the child unless that right is held jointly by two or more persons, in which case "custody" means the physical custody of the child by one of the persons sharing the right to custody. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 17.1
• Demand occupation: means an occupation in a labor market area in which the director determines work opportunities are available and there is not a surplus of qualified applicants. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 1270
• Department: means the Department of Transportation of this state. See California Streets and Highways Code 20
• department: whenever used in this code , unless the context otherwise requires, means the State Department of Education. See California Education Code 89
• Designation: means a designation made pursuant to Section 6321. See California Probate Code 6320
• Devise: when used as a noun, means a disposition of real or personal property by will, and, when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will. See California Probate Code 32
• Devisee: means any person designated in a will to receive a devise. See California Probate Code 34
• Director: means the director of the department. See California Streets and Highways Code 21
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Dissolution of marriage: includes divorce. See California Probate Code 36
• Domestic partner: means one of two persons who have filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State pursuant to Division 2. See California Probate Code 37
• Dower: A widow
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• employer: means any individual or type of organization, including any partnership, joint venture, association, trust, estate, joint stock company, insurance company, corporation whether domestic or foreign, and the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee or successor thereof, and the legal representative of a deceased person. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 1058
• 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.
• 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}
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Family allowance: means an allowance provided for in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 6540) of Part 3 of Division 6. See California Probate Code 38
• Financial institution: means a state or national bank, state or federal savings and loan association or credit union, or like organization. See California Probate Code 40
• Fishery products: includes fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and marine products for human consumption. See California Corporations Code 13202
• 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}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Heir: means any person, including the surviving spouse, who is entitled to take property of the decedent by intestate succession under this code. See California Probate Code 44
• highway: includes bridges, culverts, curbs, drains, and all works incidental to highway construction, improvement, and maintenance. See California Streets and Highways Code 23
• individual: includes an exhaustee as defined in Section 3503, and any individual claiming federal-state extended benefits under Part 4 (commencing with Section 4001), and anyone receiving federally funded unemployment compensation benefits. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 1267
• Instrument: includes all of the following:

  California Probate Code 6320

• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• interested person: includes any of the following:

  California Probate Code 48

• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• 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.
• joint venture: means a separate employing unit which has been organized by two or more employers to accomplish a contract or project or series of contracts or projects and which is wholly owned by such employers. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 1058
• Judge: means the administrative law judge presiding over the dismissal or suspension hearing. See California Education Code 44990
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Labor market area: means a county, or aggregation of counties designated by the department that meets criteria of population, population density, commute patterns, and social and economic integration specified by the department. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 1270
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• maintenance: includes any of the following:

  California Streets and Highways Code 27

• Member: includes members of associations without capital stock and holders of common stock in associations organized with shares of stock. See California Corporations Code 13202
• Minor: means any person under 18 years of age. See California Education Code 44990
• minor child: means a child of the decedent who was under the age of 18 at the time of the decedent's death and who survived the decedent. See California Probate Code 6601
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Person: means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, organization, limited liability company, or business trust. See California Streets and Highways Code 19
• Person: means an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other entity. See California Probate Code 56
• Personal representative: means executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, special administrator, successor personal representative, public administrator acting pursuant to Section 7660, or a person who performs substantially the same function under the law of another jurisdiction governing the person's status. See California Probate Code 58
• Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Predeceased spouse: means a person who died before the decedent while married to the decedent, except that the term does not include any of the following:

  California Probate Code 59

• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probate homestead: means a homestead provided for in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 6520) of Part 3 of Division 6. See California Probate Code 60
• Quasi-community property: means the following property, other than community property as defined in Section 28:

  California Probate Code 66

• Real property: includes a leasehold interest in real property. See California Probate Code 68
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative of the respondent: means either counsel for, or an exclusive labor representative of, the respondent. See California Education Code 44990
• Respondent: means the party against whom a petition has been filed. See California Education Code 44990
• 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.
• school employer: means the governing board of any school district or community college district, any county board of education, any county superintendent of schools, or any personnel commission of a school district or community college district which has a merit system pursuant to any provision of the Education Code, or any instrumentality of the foregoing, or any instrumentality of more than one of the foregoing, which employs one or more employees. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 821.4
• Security: includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas, or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate, transferable share, voting trust certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim certificate, receipt, or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing. See California Probate Code 70
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Unemployment Insurance Code 11.2
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 12.2
• Spouse: includes domestic partner, as defined in Section 37 of this code, as required by §. See California Probate Code 72
• State highway: means any highway which is acquired, laid out, constructed, improved or maintained as a State highway pursuant to constitutional or legislative authorization. See California Streets and Highways Code 24
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Support person: means an adult attendant, victim advocate, or other witness who is able, because of education, experience, or familiarity with the minor, to ensure that the minor's mental health, welfare, and well-being are protected. See California Education Code 44990
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Totten trust account: means an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit in the account. See California Probate Code 80
• Transferee: means the beneficiary, donee, or other recipient of an interest transferred by an instrument. See California Probate Code 81.5
• Trustee: includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court. See California Probate Code 84
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.