Massachusetts General Laws ch. 200B sec. 1 – Definitions
Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 200B sec. 1
- 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.
- 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.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- museum: shall include , but not be limited to, historical societies, historic sites, landmarks, parks, archives, monuments, botanical gardens, arboreta, zoos, nature centers, planetaria, aquaria, libraries, technology centers and art, history, science and natural history museums. See Massachusetts General Laws ch. 200B sec. 1
- 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.
”Claimant”, a person, other than the lender, who claims to be legally entitled to, or who establishes legal entitlement to, property held by a museum.
”Lender”, a person who loans property to a museum and whose name appears in the museum’s records as the person legally entitled to the property held by the museum.
”Loan”, a deposit of property with a museum for a specified period of time, that is not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property or other evidence of donative intent; but does not include a consignment of property for sale.
”Museum”, an institution or entity located in the commonwealth that:
(i) is operated by a nonprofit corporation, trust, association, public agency or educational institution;
(ii) is operated primarily for educational, scientific, historic preservation, cultural or aesthetic purposes; and
(iii) owns, borrows, cares for, exhibits, studies, archives or catalogues property.
The word, ”museum” shall include, but not be limited to, historical societies, historic sites, landmarks, parks, archives, monuments, botanical gardens, arboreta, zoos, nature centers, planetaria, aquaria, libraries, technology centers and art, history, science and natural history museums.
”Person”, an individual, association, partnership, corporation, trust, estate or other entity having a legal interest in property in the custody of a museum.
”Property”, tangible objects, animate or inanimate, in the custody of a museum.
”Undocumented property”, property:
(i) that is held by a museum;
(ii) that is assumed to be a gift to the museum; and
(iii) whose ownership cannot be determined by reference to the museum’s records.