Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 10 > Chapter 13 - the Court of Common Pleas for the State of Delaware

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adult: means a natural person 18 years of age or older. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Audit Manager: means the Abandoned Property Audit Manager of the Delaware Department of Finance. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Banking organization: includes any organization, corporation, or association organized and existing under Chapter 7, 15, or 17 of Title 5 or the corresponding provisions of statutes in effect prior to February 12, 1953, or any bank or credit union created under the laws of the United States or any state. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• 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.
• Board: shall mean the Board of Pension Trustees established by § 8308 of Title 29. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Business association: means a for profit or nonprofit corporation, joint stock company, investment company, partnership, unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, business trust, trust company, land bank, safe deposit company, safekeeping depository, financial organization, insurance company, federally chartered entity, utility, sole proprietorship, or other business entity. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Commission: means the Delaware Harness Racing Commission. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 10001
• Compensation: shall mean all salary or wages, excluding overtime payments and special payments for extra duties, payable to a member for service. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Court: means the Court of Chancery. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Credited service: shall mean , for any member:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801

• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Declarant: means a competent adult who signs a declaration pursuant to the provisions of this article. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Declaration instrument: means a written instrument, signed by a declarant, governing the disposition of the declarant's last remains and the ceremonies planned after a declarant's death, including a document governing the disposition of last remains under this title or a United States Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data Form (DD Form 93) or any successor form executed by the declarant. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent: shall mean a dependent child or dependent parent. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• dollars: means lawful money of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Domicile: means as follows:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130

• Dower: A widow
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Emergency: means the respondent is in danger of incurring imminent serious physical harm or substantial economic loss or expense. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Employee: shall mean :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801

• Equalized state service: shall mean :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801

• 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}
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Final average compensation: shall mean 1/3 6 of the compensation paid to an employee during any period of 36 consecutive months for services rendered during those 36 months, in the years of credited service in which the compensation was highest. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Financial organization: means a savings and loan association, building and loan association, savings bank, industrial bank, bank, banking organization, or credit union. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• 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}
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fund: shall mean the Fund established by § 8843 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Game-related digital content: means digital content that exists only in an electronic game or electronic-game platform. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• General Fund: means the General Fund described in § 6102 of Title 29. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Gift card: means a record that may be used to obtain merchandise, goods, or services at a single retailer of goods or services or an affiliated group of retailers of goods or services. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Holder: means any person having possession, custody, or control of the property of another person and includes a post office, a depository, a bailee, a trustee, a receiver or other liquidating officer, a fiduciary, a governmental department, institution or agency, a municipal corporation and the fiscal officers thereof, a public utility, service corporation, and every other legal entity incorporated or created under the laws of this State or doing business in this State. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Implementation Committee: means the Pollution Prevention Implementation Committee. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Inactive member: shall mean a member who is an employee on or after the member:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801

• 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.
• Infancy: means an age of less than 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance company: means an association, corporation, or fraternal or mutual-benefit organization, whether or not for profit, engaged in the business of providing life endowments, annuities, or insurance, including accident, burial, casualty, credit-life, contract-performance, dental, disability, fidelity, fire, health, hospitalization, illness, life, malpractice, marine, mortgage, surety, wage-protection, and worker-compensation insurance. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• 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.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Last remains: means the deceased's body or cremains after death. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Lawful age: means the age of 18 years or older. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• 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.
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Loyalty card: means a record given without direct monetary consideration under an award, reward, benefit, loyalty, incentive, rebate, or promotional program that may be used or redeemed only to obtain goods or services or a discount on goods or services. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Member: shall mean a person who is an employee on or after the date the employer affiliates with the Fund. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Mineral: means gas, oil, coal, oil shale, other gaseous liquid or solid hydrocarbon, cement material, sand and gravel, road material, building stone, chemical raw material, gemstone, fissionable and nonfissionable ores, colloidal and other clay, steam and other geothermal resources, and any other substance defined as a mineral by law of this State other than this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Mineral proceeds: means an amount payable for extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, on the abandonment of the amount, the amount that becomes payable after abandonment. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Multi-media: means all environmental media including, but not limited to, workplaces within facilities, water, land and air. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Municipal bond: means a bond or evidence of indebtedness issued by a municipality or other political subdivision of a state. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• 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.
• Nonfreely transferable security: means a security that cannot be delivered to the State Escheator by the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation or a similar custodian of securities providing post-trade clearing and settlement services to financial markets or cannot be delivered because there is no agent to effect transfer. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Owner: means a person, or the person's legal representative when acting on behalf of the person, that has a legal, beneficial, or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Partial disability: shall mean a medically determined physical or mental impairment which renders the member unable to function as a police officer and which is reasonably expected to last at least 12 months. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Party: means the respondent, petitioner, guardian, conservator, or any other person allowed by the Court to participate in a guardianship or protective proceeding. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• Person: means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, federal agency, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Person: means an individual; estate; business association; public corporation; government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or other legal entity. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Pollution prevention: means any practice which:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803

• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Primary survivor: shall mean a person in the following order of priority, unless the priority is changed by the member on a form prescribed by the Board on file with the Board at the time of the member's death:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801

• 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: means tangible property described in § 1134 of this title or a fixed and certain interest in intangible property held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Proxy voting: The practice of allowing a legislator to cast a vote in committee for an absent legislator.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• 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 Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• 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 Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retired member: shall mean a member who has terminated service, other than an inactive member, who is eligible to receive a service or disability pension under this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the referenced state department or a duly authorized designee. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Security: means any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130

• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• State Escheator: means the person responsible for the administration and enforcement of this chapter, as established by § 1102 of this title and § 363 of Title 30. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Stored-value card: means a record that evidences a promise for consideration by the holder of the record that the owner of the record will be provided, solely or a combination of, merchandise, services, or cash in the value shown in the record, which is pre-funded and the value of which may be increased by the owner or holder or decreased by redemption. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testatrix: The female counterpart of a testator.
• Third party: includes , but is not limited to, a funeral director, mortician, mortuary, crematorium, or cemetery. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Total disability: shall mean a medically determined physical or mental impairment which renders the member totally unable to work in any occupation for which the member is reasonably suited by training or experience, which is reasonably expected to last at least 12 months. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8801
• Trade secret: means any information concerning production processes employed or substances manufactured, processed or otherwise used within a facility which the Secretary of the Department has determined to be propriety information. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• 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.
• Unreasonable: means an act that is clearly unreasonable, pursuant to the definition of "reasonable under the circumstances" under paragraph (6) of this section. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 260
• Utility: means a person that owns or operates for public use a plant, equipment, real property, franchise, or license for any the following public services:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130

• Virtual currency: means a digital representation of value, including cryptocurrency, used as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value that does not have legal tender status recognized by the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Waste: means , but is not limited to, those substances defined as such under Delaware Codes, or the regulations promulgated thereunder: air pollution as defined in § 6002 of this title; hazardous waste as defined in § 6302 of this title; industrial waste as defined in § 6002 of this title; liquid waste as defined in § 6002 of this title; other wastes as defined in § 6002 of this title; refuse as defined in § 6002 of this title; rubbish as defined in § 6002 of this title; sewage as defined in § 6002 of this title; and solid waste as defined in § 6002 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 7803
• Worthless security: means a security whose cost of liquidation and delivery would exceed the value of the security on the date a report is due under this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302