Terms Used In Alaska Statutes > Title 13 > Chapter 26 - Protection of Minors and Incapacitated Persons and Their Property; Powers of Attorney

• accuser: means a person who signs and swears to charges, a person who directs that charges nominally be signed and sworn to by another, and any other person who has an interest other than an official interest in the prosecution of the accused. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• adjutant general: means the principal executive officer of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs appointed under AS 26. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• area: means a geographic area described by a closed perimeter boundary within one or more municipalities in the state. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• arrest: means the restraint of a person by an order, not imposed as a punishment for an offense, directing the person to remain within certain specified limits. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• attack: means the use of weapons, explosives, chemicals, biological or biochemical agents, or other instruments with the potential for major force or impact, with apparent intent to inflict widespread or severe injury to persons or property. See Alaska Statutes 26.20.200
• 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.
• Bench trial: Trial without a jury in which a judge decides the facts.
• 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.
• 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.
• civil defense: means the protection and defense of the civilian population by the organized efforts of the residents of the state other than those in the military service, and includes without limitation, fire fighting, policing, rescue, air raid warning, security, communications, medical service, vaccination and other actions to protect public health, transportation, evacuation of persons, welfare aid, guard duty, anti-espionage and anti-sabotage service, construction of temporary housing and bomb proof shelters, any other service necessary for the protection of and aid to the public not normally furnished by the military services, and training, preparation, travel, and other activities necessary for the provision of the services described in this paragraph. See Alaska Statutes 26.20.200
• classified information: means
  (A) information or material that has been determined by an official of the United States or any state under law, an executive order, or regulation to require protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national or state security. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• code of military justice: means the provisions of this chapter and the regulations adopted by the adjutant general to implement this chapter. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• commander: includes only commissioned officers of the militia of the state and includes officers in charge only when administering a nonjudicial punishment under the code of military justice. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• commissioner: means the commissioner of natural resources. See Alaska Statutes 27.40.010
• commissioner: means the commissioner of administration. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• 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.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• confinement: means the physical restraint of a person. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• controlled substance: means
  (A) opium, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide, methamphetamine, phencyclidine, barbituric acid, and marijuana. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• convening authority: includes , in addition to the person who convened the court, a commissioned officer commanding for the time being or a successor in command to the convening authority. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• day: means calendar day and is not synonymous with the term "unit training assembly". See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• department: means the Department of Natural Resources. See Alaska Statutes 27.40.010
• department: means the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. See Alaska Statutes 26.20.200
• department: means the Department of Administration. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• department: means the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• 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.
• enlisted member: means a person in an enlisted grade. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• facility: means a facility of
  (A) an Alaska military or civilian agency serving a subdivision of the Alaska National Guard, the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, or the United States Coast Guard, including reserve units of those entities. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• homeland security: means the detection, prevention, preemption, and deterrence of, protection from, and response to attacks targeted at territory, population, or infrastructure in this state. See Alaska Statutes 26.20.200
• 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}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• 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.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• license: when used in relation to driver licensing, means a license, provisional license, or permit to drive a motor vehicle, or the privilege to drive or to obtain a license to drive a motor vehicle, under the laws of this state whether or not a person holds a valid license issued in this or another jurisdiction. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• midshipman: means a person who is enrolled in or attending a state military academy, a regional training institute, or any other formal education program for the purpose of becoming a commissioned officer in the militia of the state. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• military court: means a court-martial. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• military facility zone: means an area that
  (A) meets the requirements of AS 26. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900
• military facility zone authority: means a public corporation established by one or more municipalities to administer a military facility zone located in the municipalities in the state. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900
• military judge: means an official of a general or special court-martial described under AS 26. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• militia of the state: means the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Naval Militia, and the Alaska State Defense Force. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• motor vehicle: means a vehicle which is self-propelled except a vehicle moved by human or animal power. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• 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
• national or state security: means the national defense and foreign relations of the United States. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• officer: means a commissioned or warrant officer. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• officer in charge: means a member of the naval militia, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, or United States Coast Guard designated by the appropriate authority. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 subdivision: means
  (A) a municipality. See Alaska Statutes 26.20.200
• 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}
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• 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
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• record: when used in connection with the proceedings of a court-martial, means
  (A) an official written transcript, written summary, or other writing relating to the proceedings. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• 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).
• reviewing authority: means the Military Appeals Commission and the Alaska supreme court. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• 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.
• senior force judge advocate: means the senior judge advocate of the commander of the same force of the militia of the state as the accused and who is that commander's chief legal advisor. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• 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.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• subscription: includes the mark of a person who cannot write, with the name of that person written near the mark by a witness who writes the witness's own name near the name of the person who cannot write. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• 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.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using a highway or vehicular way or area that is open to public use for purposes of travel. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• 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.
• True bill: Another word for indictment.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• unit: means a regularly organized body of the militia of the state not larger than a company, a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to one of them. See Alaska Statutes 26.05.990
• vehicle: means a device in, upon, or by which a person or property may be transported or drawn upon or immediately over a highway or vehicular way or area. See Alaska Statutes 28.90.990
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Voice vote: A vote in which the Presiding Officer states the question, then asks those in favor and against to say "Yea" or "Nay," respectively, and announces the result according to his or her judgment. The names or numbers of legisators voting on each side are not recorded.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• writing: includes printing. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• zone: means a military facility zone. See Alaska Statutes 26.30.900