Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 220 > Part V - Accounting

• Abandoned: means a situation in which the parent or person having legal custody of a child, while being able, makes little or no provision for the child's support or makes little or no effort to communicate with the child, which situation is sufficient to evince an intent to reject parental responsibilities. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adoption: means the act of creating the legal relationship between parent and child where it did not exist, thereby declaring the child to be legally the child of the adoptive parents and their heir at law and entitled to all the rights and privileges and subject to all the obligations of a child born to such adoptive parents in lawful wedlock. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Adoption entity: means the department, a child-caring agency registered under…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Adoption plan: means an arrangement made by a birth parent or other individual having a legal right to custody of a minor, born or to be born, with an adoption entity in furtherance of placing the minor for adoption. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• 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.
• Agency: means any child-placing agency licensed by the department pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• 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.
• 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
• bonds: shall include water revenue bonds, sewer revenue bonds, and general obligation bonds. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• Child: means any unmarried person under the age of 18 years who has not been emancipated by court order. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• commission: shall mean the board of county commissioners of any county operating under the powers granted by this chapter. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• county: shall mean any of the several counties of the state operating under the authority granted by this chapter. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• Court: means a circuit court of this state and, if the context requires, the court of any state that is empowered to grant petitions for adoption. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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 Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• 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.
• facility: shall mean such water systems, sewage disposal systems, water system improvements and/or sewer improvements or additions thereto as are defined by this chapter. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• general obligation bonds: shall mean general obligations of the county which are payable from unlimited ad valorem taxes or from such taxes and additionally secured by a pledge of water service charges or sewer service charges or special assessments, or all of them. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• Parent: means a woman who gives birth to a child and who is not a gestational surrogate as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• 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.
• Person: includes a natural person, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, or association, and any other legal entity. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Placement: means the process of a parent or legal guardian surrendering a child for adoption and the prospective adoptive parents receiving and adopting the child and all actions by any adoption entity participating in placing the child. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Relative: means a person related by blood to the person being adopted within the third degree of consanguinity. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• sewage: shall include any substance that contains any of the waste products, excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals as well as such other wastes as normally emanate from dwelling houses. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• sewage disposal system: shall mean and shall include any plant, system, facility, or property used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the collection, treatment, purification, or disposal of sewage, or reuse of wastewater, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing definition shall embrace treatment plants, pumping stations, intercepting sewers, pressure lines, mains, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and shall include all property, rights, easements, and franchises relating to any such system and deemed necessary or convenient for the operation thereof. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• sewer improvements: shall include all sanitary sewers within the county other than such mains and lines as constitute a part of a sewage disposal system, and shall embrace sewer mains and laterals for the reception of sewage from premises connected therewith and for carrying such sewage to some part of the sewage disposal system or for the distribution of reclaimed sewage for reuse. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• sewer revenue bonds: shall mean special obligations of the county which are payable solely from sewer service charges and which in no way pledge the property, credit, or general tax revenue of the county. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• To place: means the process whereby a parent or legal guardian surrenders a child for adoption and the prospective adoptive parents receive and adopt the child, and includes all actions by any person or adoption entity participating in the process. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• 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.
• water revenue bonds: shall mean special obligations of the county which are payable solely from water service charges and which shall in no way pledge the property, credit, or general tax revenue of the county. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• water system: shall mean and shall include any plant, wells, pipes, tanks, reservoirs, system, facility, or property used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the obtaining and supplying water and alternative water supplies, including, but not limited to, reclaimed water and water from aquifer storage and recovery and desalination systems, for human consumption, fire protection, irrigation, consumption by business, or consumption by industry, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing definition shall embrace all necessary appurtenances and equipment and shall include all property, rights, easements and franchises relating to any such system and deemed necessary or convenient for the operation thereof. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• water system improvements: shall include all water pipes or lines, valves, meters, and other water-supplying equipment within the county other than such equipment as constitute a part of the water supply system and shall embrace water mains and laterals for the carrying of water to the premises connected therewith and for carrying such water from some part of the water supply system. See Florida Statutes 153.02
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01