Terms Used In Kansas Statutes > Chapter 5 > Article 5 - Dispute Resolution

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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}
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of insurance or the commissioner's authorized designee. See Kansas Statutes 60-3356
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Deed: is a pplied to an instrument conveying lands but does not imply a sealed instrument. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Earnings: means compensation payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus or otherwise;

  (2) "disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of any individual remaining after the deduction from such earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld;

  (3) "wage garnishment" means any legal or equitable procedure through which the earnings of any individual are required to be withheld for payment of any debt; and

  (4) "federal minimum hourly wage" means that wage prescribed by subsection (a)(1) of section 6 of the federal fair labor standards act of 1938, and any amendments thereto. See Kansas Statutes 60-2310

• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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 judgment: means any judgment, decree or order of a court of the United States or of any other court which is entitled to full faith and credit in this state, except that no judgment of any court in this state shall be a foreign judgment in any other court of this state; and

  (b) "state" means a state of the United States. See Kansas Statutes 60-3001

• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• Guardian: means an individual or a nonprofit corporation certified in accordance with Kan. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• 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.
• Householder: means a person who is 18 or more years of age and who owns or occupies a house as a place of residence and not as a boarder or lodger. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Improper means: includes theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage through electronic or other means. See Kansas Statutes 60-3320
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance compliance audit: means a voluntary, internal evaluation, review, assessment, audit or investigation for the purpose of identifying or preventing noncompliance with, or promoting compliance with laws, regulations, orders, or industry or professional standards, which is conducted by or on behalf of any insurance company licensed or regulated under the Kansas insurance code, or which involves an activity regulated under the Kansas insurance code. See Kansas Statutes 60-3356
• Insurance compliance self-evaluative audit document: means any document prepared as a result of or in connection with an insurance compliance audit. See Kansas Statutes 60-3356
• 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.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Magistrate judges: Judicial officers who assist U.S. district judges in getting cases ready for trial, who may decide some criminal and civil trials when both parties agree to have the case heard by a magistrate judge instead of a judge.
• Manufactured home: means a structure which:

  (1) Is transportable in one or more sections which, in the traveling mode, is 8 body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained therein; and

  (2) is subject to the federal manufactured home construction and safety standards established pursuant to 42 U. See Kansas Statutes 77-201

• master: includes a referee, an auditor, a commissioner and an examiner. See Kansas Statutes 60-253
• Minor: means any person defined by Kan. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Misappropriation: means :

  (i) acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or

  (ii) disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied consent by a person who

  (A) used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or

  (B) at the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know that his knowledge of the trade secret was

  (I) derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire it;

  (II) acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (III) derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (C) before a material change of his position, knew or had reason to know that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake. See Kansas Statutes 60-3320

• Mobile home: means a structure which:

  (1) Is transportable in one or more sections which, in the traveling mode, is 8 body feet or more in width and 36 body feet or more in length and is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained therein; and

  (2) is not subject to the federal manufactured home construction and safety standards established pursuant to 42 U. See Kansas Statutes 77-201

• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes an affirmation in all cases where an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in similar cases "swear" includes affirm. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• 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.
• 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 any person, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, unincorporated association, or society, or municipal or other corporation of any character whatsoever. See Kansas Statutes 60-1714
• Person: means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Kansas Statutes 60-3320
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, evidences of debt and things in action, and digital assets as defined in the revised uniform fiduciary access to digital assets act, Kan. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• 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.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes personal and real property. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights to them and interest in them, equitable as well as legal. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• 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.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Residence: means the place which is adopted by a person as the person's place of habitation and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• restricted mail: as used in this chapter means mail, sent postage or other delivery fees prepaid, that is endorsed on its face pursuant to applicable postal regulations so that the sender will receive a return receipt notification with the date and address of delivery, and, if the addressee is a natural person, only the addressee or an authorized agent will receive the mail. See Kansas Statutes 60-103
• Right of offset: Banks' legal right to seize funds that a guarantor or debtor may have on deposit to cover a loan in default. It is also known as the right of set-off. ^{Source: OCC}
• seal: includes an impression of the seal upon the paper alone, as well as upon wax or a wafer affixed to the paper. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trade secret: means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that:

  (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and

  (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. See Kansas Statutes 60-3320

• 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.
• Undertaking: means a promise or security in any form where required by law. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.