Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 671 > Part I - Short Title, Construction, Application, and Subject Matter

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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.
• Capital stock: means the aggregate of shares of nonwithdrawable capital issued by a capital stock association, but does not include nonwithdrawable capital represented by capital certificates. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• 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.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Earnings: means that part of the sources available for payment of earnings of a savings bank which is declared payable on savings accounts from time to time by the board of directors and is the cost of savings money to the savings bank. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• 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.
• Family trust company: means a corporation or limited liability company that:
  (a) Is exclusively owned by one or more family members. See Florida Statutes 662.111
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary account: means the estate, trust, or other fiduciary relationship which, by any governing instrument or in any other lawful manner, has been or is established or provided for with a trust company, trust department, or other person and includes the assets, rights, liabilities, and obligations thereof. See Florida Statutes 660.25
• Fiduciary capacity: means the status or position, assigned or assumed, of a fiduciary. See Florida Statutes 660.25
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• 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}
• Foreign licensed family trust company: means a family trust company that:
  (a) Is licensed by a state in the United States other than this state or the District of Columbia. See Florida Statutes 662.111
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Governing instrument: means a will, trust agreement, trust indenture, or other communication which creates or provides for a trust in any lawful form or manner; an order, judgment, or decree of a court or an appointment by a court in any form; or any other designation, appointment, agreement, statement, instruction, message, or information, the terms or effect of which creates, establishes, or otherwise provides for a fiduciary account or relationship, or the terms or effect of which creates, appoints, or otherwise provides for or requires a person to act in a fiduciary capacity, or the terms or effect of which contains or provides for grants or limitations of, or directions or instructions to or with respect to, the authorities, powers, or discretions exercisable by a fiduciary with respect to a fiduciary account. See Florida Statutes 660.25
• 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.
• Home property: means real estate on which is located, or will be located pursuant to a real estate loan, a structure designed for residential use by one family or a single condominium unit, including common elements pertinent to such unit, designed for residential use by one family in a multiple-dwelling-unit structure or complex and including fixtures, home furnishings, and equipment. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Licensed family trust company: means a family trust company that operates in accordance with this chapter and has been issued a license that has not been revoked or suspended by the office. See Florida Statutes 662.111
• Liquid assets: means :
  (a) Cash on hand. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• 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.
• Net income: means gross revenues for an accounting period, less all expenses paid or incurred, taxes, and losses sustained as shall not have been charged to reserves pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• 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.
• 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.
• Office: means the Office of Financial Regulation. See Florida Statutes 662.111
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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 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
• 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
• Primarily residential property: means real estate on which there is located, or will be located pursuant to a real estate loan:
  (a) Any structure designed or used primarily for residential rather than nonresidential purposes and consisting of more than one dwelling unit. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• Probate: Proving a will
• Real estate loan: means any loan or other obligation secured by a lien on real estate in any state held in fee or in a leasehold extending or renewable automatically for a period of at least 15 years beyond the date scheduled for the final principal payment of such loan or obligation, or any transaction out of which a lien or claim is created against such real estate, including, but not limited to, the purchase of such real estate in fee by a savings bank and the concurrent or immediate sale of such real estate on installment contract. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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}
• Savings bank: means a capital stock or mutual savings bank subject to the provisions of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 667.002
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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