Terms Used In New York Laws > Social Services > Article 3 - Local Public Welfare Organization; Powers and Duties

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adoption date: means the date the board of directors of the mutual life insurer adopts the plan of reorganization. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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}
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Effective date: means , in the case of the reorganization of a mutual life insurer, the date upon which the reorganization of the mutual life insurer shall be effective in accordance with section eight thousand nine of this article as a result of reorganization proceedings pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• 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.
• Law clerk: Assist judges with research and drafting of opinions.
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• member: means a member of such mutual holding company as provided in subsection (c) of section eight thousand seventeen of this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Membership interests: means , with reference to an institution that is a mutual life insurer or a mutual holding company, the rights as members arising under the charter of such institution or this chapter or otherwise by law including the rights to vote and to participate in any distribution of the surplus of such institution, whether or not incident to a liquidation thereof. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mutual holding company: means a corporation organized under section eight thousand seventeen of this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Mutual life insurer: means a domestic mutual life insurer. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Offer: includes every offer to buy or acquire, solicitation of an offer to sell, tender offer for, or request or invitation for tenders of a security or interest in a security for value. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• 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: means an individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, joint-stock company, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, trust, government or governmental agency, state or political subdivision thereof, public or private corporation, board, association, estate, trustee or fiduciary, any similar entity or any combination of the foregoing acting in concert. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• plan: means a plan adopted by a mutual life insurer in compliance with this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• 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.
• Policyholder: means a person, as determined by the records of the reorganizing insurer or reorganized insurer, who is deemed to be the "policyholder" of a policy or annuity contract which is of a type described in paragraph one, two or three of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this chapter for purposes of paragraph three of subsection (a) of section four thousand two hundred ten of this chapter. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public offering: means a stock offering required to be registered pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, United States Code, title 15, § 77e. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• 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}
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reorganized insurer: means the stock life insurer into which a mutual life insurer has been reorganized in accordance with the provisions of this article. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Reorganizing insurer: means , in the case of a plan of reorganization of a mutual life insurer under this article, the mutual life insurer that is reorganizing pursuant to such plan. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• 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.
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stock holding company: means a corporation incorporated under the laws of any jurisdiction in the United States, at least fifty-one percent of the voting stock of which is owned, directly or through another stock holding company, by a mutual holding company and which holds, directly or indirectly, voting stock in at least one reorganized insurer. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplemental appropriation: Budget authority provided in an appropriations act in addition to regular or continuing appropriations already provided. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies, such as disaster relief, or other needs deemed too urgent to be postponed until the enactment of next year's regular appropriations act.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Voting stock: means capital stock that constitutes voting securities as defined in paragraph forty-five of subsection (a) of section one hundred seven of this chapter. See N.Y. Insurance Law 8001
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.