Terms Used In Alaska Statutes > Title 9 > Chapter 45 - Actions Relating to Real Property

• absent uniformed services voter: has the meaning given in 52 U. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• absentee voting official: means a person appointed to serve as an absentee voting official in accordance with Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• acknowledgment: means a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record and, if the record is signed in a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• ballot: means any document provided by the director on which votes may be cast for candidates, propositions, or questions. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• 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}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• 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.
• commercial use: means the sale of heat or power to a third party. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• commission: means the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission created under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• communication technology: means an electronic device or process that
  (A) allows a notary public and a remotely located individual to communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and sound. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• 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.
• 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.
• correlative rights: means the right of an owner of each property in a geothermal system to produce without waste the owner's just and equitable share of the geothermal resources in the geothermal system. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• director: means the director of elections who is the chief elections officer of the state appointed in accordance with Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• division: means the division of elections created under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• election board: means the board appointed in accordance with Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• election official: means election board members, members of counting or review boards, employees of the division of elections, and absentee voting officials. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• electronic signature: means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by an individual with the intent to sign the record. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• 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}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• 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.
• federal election: means a general, special, special primary, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting, nominating, or electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice-President, presidential elector, United States senator, or United States representative. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• 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.
• general election: means the election held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• geothermal fluid: means liquids and steam at temperatures greater than 120 degrees Celsius or any commercial use of liquids and steam naturally present in a geothermal system at temperatures less than 120 degrees Celsius. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• geothermal system: means a stratum, pool, reservoir, or other geologic formation containing geothermal resources. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• 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.
• Gross estate: The total fair market value of all property and property interests, real and personal, tangible and intangible, of which a decedent had beneficial ownership at the time of death before subtractions for deductions, debts, administrative expenses, and casualty losses suffered during estate administration.
• 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.
• house district: means one of the districts described in art. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• identity proofing: means a process or service by which a third person provides a notary public with a means to verify the identity of a remotely located individual by a review of personal information from public or private data sources. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• 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}
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• 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}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• judicial district: means one of the districts defined in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• 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}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• lieutenant governor: includes an appointed lieutenant governor, governor, or acting governor if a vacancy has occurred in the office of lieutenant governor or governor. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• limited political party: means a political group which organizes for the purpose of selecting candidates for electors for President and Vice-President. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• local election: means a regular or special election held by a borough, city, school district, or regional educational attendance area. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• master register: means the list of all registered voters in the state which is maintained by the director of elections. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• member of a political party: means a person who supports the political program of a party. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• municipality: means a political subdivision incorporated under the laws of the state that is a home rule or general law city, a home rule or general law borough, or a unified municipality. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• 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.
• notarial act: means an act, whether performed with respect to a tangible or electronic record, that is identified as a notarial act under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• notary public: means a person commissioned to perform notarial acts under this chapter. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• numerical identifier: means a voter's date of birth, the last four digits of a voter's social security number, a voter's Alaska driver's license number, or a voter's Alaska identification card number or voter identification number. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• oath: includes affirmation or declaration. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• 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.
• official registration list: means the list of all voters qualified to vote at a particular election compiled in accordance with Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• operator: means a person drilling, maintaining, operating, producing, or in control of a well. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• overseas voter: has the meaning given in 42 U. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• owner: means the person who has the right to drill into or produce from a geothermal system and to appropriate the geothermal resources produced from a geothermal system for that person and others. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• 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.
• party district committee: means the political party committee that performs the executive function for a region representing an area larger than a precinct and smaller than the state. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• peace officer: means
  (A) an officer of the state troopers. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• 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.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• 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.
• political group: means a group of organized voters which represents a political program and which does not qualify as a political party. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• political party: means an organized group of voters that represents a political program and has at least 5,000 registered voters in the state. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• 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.
• precinct: means the territory within which resident voters may cast votes at one polling place. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• presidential election year: means a year in which the presidential electors are elected. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• property: includes real and personal property. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• proposition: means an initiative, referendum, or constitutional amendment submitted at an election to the public for vote. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• qualified voter: means a person who has the qualification of a voter and is not disqualified as provided by art. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• question: means an issue placed on the ballot to determine whether a judge or justice shall be accepted or rejected, whether a constitutional convention shall be called, whether a state debt shall be contracted, or whether a state official shall be recalled. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• ranked-choice voting: means , in a general election, the method of casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates in order of preference and in which tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in which (a) a candidate with a majority in the first round wins outright, or (b) last-place candidates are defeated until there are two candidates remaining, at which point the candidate with the greatest number of votes is declared the winner of the election. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• 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.
• remotely located individual: means an individual who is not in the physical presence of a notary public who performs a notarial act under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• reregistration: means the submission of a registration form by a voter whose registration was inactivated on the master register maintained under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• senate district: means one of the districts described in art. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• 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.
• sign: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to
  (A) execute or adopt a tangible symbol. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• signature: means a tangible symbol or an electronic signature that evidences the signing of a record. See Alaska Statutes 44.50.200
• special election: means an election held at a time other than when the general or primary election is held and an election called to be held with, and at the time of, the general or primary election. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• subscription: includes a mark intended as a signature or subscription. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• sworn: includes affirmed. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• voter: means a person who presents oneself for the purpose of voting either in person or by absentee ballot. See Alaska Statutes 15.80.010
• waste: means , in addition to its ordinary meaning, physical waste, and includes an inefficient, excessive, or improper production, use, or dissipation of geothermal resources, including
  (A) drilling, transporting, or storage methods that cause or tend to cause unnecessary surface loss of geothermal resources. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• well: means a well drilled, converted, or reactivated for the discovery, testing, production, or subsurface injection of geothermal resources. See Alaska Statutes 41.06.060
• writing: includes printing. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060