Terms Used In California Codes > Probate Code > Division 11 > Part 3 - NO CONTEST CLAUSE

• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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

• 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}
• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Government Code 20
• Commission: means the California Transportation Commission. See California Government Code 14501
• 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.
• Contest: means a pleading filed with the court by a beneficiary that would result in a penalty under a no contest clause, if the no contest clause is enforced. See California Probate Code 21310
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• County: includes city and county. See California Government Code 19
• Declarant: is a person who makes a statement. See California Evidence Code 135
• Department: means the Department of Transportation. See California Government Code 14501
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct contest: means a contest that alleges the invalidity of a protected instrument or one or more of its terms, based on one or more of the following grounds:

  California Probate Code 21310

• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Evidence: means testimony, writings, material objects, or other things presented to the senses that are offered to prove the existence or nonexistence of a fact. See California Evidence Code 140
• 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.
• hearing: means the hearing at which a question under this code arises, and not some earlier or later hearing. See California Evidence Code 145
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Instrument: means a will, a document establishing or modifying a trust, a deed, or any other writing that designates a beneficiary or makes a donative transfer of property. See California Probate Code 45
• No contest clause: means a provision in an otherwise valid instrument that, if enforced, would penalize a beneficiary for filing a pleading in any court. See California Probate Code 21310
• Person: includes a natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or public entity. See California Evidence Code 175
• Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
• 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
• Pleading: means a petition, complaint, cross-complaint, objection, answer, response, or claim. See California Probate Code 21310
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
• Protected instrument: means all of the following instruments:

  California Probate Code 21310

• Statement: means (a) oral or written verbal expression or (b) nonverbal conduct of a person intended by him as a substitute for oral or written verbal expression. See California Evidence Code 225
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Transferor: means the testator, settlor, grantor, owner, or other person who executes an instrument. See California Probate Code 81
• Trust: includes the following:

  California Probate Code 82

• Will: includes codicil and any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another will. See California Probate Code 88
• Writing: means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing, any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored. See California Evidence Code 250