Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 40 > Chapter 2 - Vital Statistics Laws

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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}
• Biological parents: means a husband and wife, joined by legal marriage recognized as valid in this state, who provide sperm and egg for in vitro fertilization, performed by a licensed physician, when the resulting fetus is carried and delivered by a surrogate birth parent who is related by blood or affinity to either the husband or wife. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• 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.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dead body: means a lifeless human body or such severed parts of the human body, or the bones thereof, from the state of which it may be reasonably concluded that death has recently occurred. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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.
• evidence of life: include heart action, breathing, or movement of voluntary muscles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Fetal death: means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• File: means the presentation of a vital record provided for in this Chapter for registration by the vital records registry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Final disposition: means the burial, interment, cremation, removal from the state, or other authorized disposition of a dead body or fetus. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• 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.
• forms: means paper or electronic reports of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment, and data related thereto. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Funeral director or person acting as such: is a licensed funeral director or embalmer as defined in Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Institution: means any establishment, public or private, which provides inpatient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment or nursing, custodial, or domiciliary care, or to which persons are committed by law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• 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}
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Live birth: means a birth in which the child shows evidence of life after complete birth. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• 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.
• person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
• Physician: means a person authorized under the laws of this state to practice medicine. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Political subdivision: as used in this Part means any parish of this state as well as any city or county of another adjoining or adjacent state which is authorized by the law of that state to engage in a joint endeavor for the creation and operation of an airport district with a political subdivision of this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 2:131
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Public health statistics unit: means that section which codes, tabulates, analyzes, reports, and coordinates vital records and other health status indicator data for the office of public health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• 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}
• Removal: means the transportation of a dead human body or the remains thereof from the jurisdiction of the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• System of vital records: means the registration, collection, preservation, amendment, certification, and issuance of certified copies of vital records required by this Chapter and activities related thereto. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32
• 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.
• 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.
• Vital records registry: means a central registry as provided for in Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:32