Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 3 > Chapter 2 - Supreme Court

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Administrator: has the meaning provided for in 33-17-102(3). See Montana Code 33-38-102
• 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.
• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• 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.
• 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.
• Approved by the members: means approved and ratified by the affirmative vote:

  (a)of a majority of the votes represented and voting:

  (i)at a meeting at which a quorum is present and the affirmative votes constitute a majority of the required quorum;

  (ii)by a written ballot or written consent in conformity with this chapter; or

  (iii)by the affirmative vote, written ballot, or written consent of the majority; and

  (b)that includes the votes of all the members of any class, unit, or grouping that may be required by the articles, bylaws, or this chapter for any specified member action. See Montana Code 35-2-114

• articles: include amended and restated articles of incorporation and articles of merger. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Authenticated electronic identification: includes any e-mail address or other electronic identification designated by a user, including a corporation, for electronic communications. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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}
• Benefit corporation: means a corporation organized in this state that has elected to become subject to this part and whose status as a benefit corporation has not been terminated as provided in 35-1-1408. See Montana Code 35-1-1402
• Benefit enforcement proceeding: means a claim or action relating to:

  (a)failure to pursue the general public benefit purpose of the benefit corporation or any specific public benefit purpose set forth in its articles of incorporation;

  (b)violation of a duty or standard of conduct imposed on a director or officer pursuant to this part; or

  (c)failure of the benefit corporation to deliver, provide, or post an annual benefit report as required in 35-1-1410. See Montana Code 35-1-1402

• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• board of directors: means the board of directors except that a person or group of persons is not the board of directors because of powers delegated to that person or group pursuant to 35-2-414. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Bylaws: means the code, codes, or rules, other than the articles, adopted pursuant to this chapter for the regulation or management of the affairs of the corporation, regardless of the name or names by which the code, codes, or rules are designated. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Class: refers to a group of memberships that have the same rights with respect to voting, dissolution, redemption, and transfer. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• Corporation: means a public benefit corporation, mutual benefit corporation, or religious corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Delegates: means those persons elected or appointed to vote in a representative assembly for the election of a director or directors or on other matters. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• delivery: means any method of delivery used in conventional commercial practice, including delivery by hand, mail, commercial delivery, and electronic transmission, except that delivery to the secretary of state means actual receipt in a manner authorized by the secretary of state. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means an individual elected to or otherwise serving on the board of directors of a benefit corporation. See Montana Code 35-1-1402
• Directors: means individuals:

  (a)designated in the articles or bylaws or elected by the incorporators and their successors; and

  (b)elected or appointed by any other name or title to act as members of the board. See Montana Code 35-2-114

• Disqualified person: means any natural person, corporation, partnership, fiduciary, trust, association, government agency, or other entity that for any reason is or becomes ineligible under this chapter to own shares issued by a professional corporation. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• Distribution: means the payment of a dividend or any part of the income or profit of a corporation to its members, directors, or officers. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Domestic corporation: means a corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• domestic professional corporation: means a corporation for profit subject to the provisions of this chapter, except a foreign professional corporation. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Effective date of notice: has the meaning provided in 35-2-115(5). See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Enroller: means a person who:

  (a)solicits the purchase or renewal of a medical care discount card through that person;

  (b)transmits, for consideration, from a supplier to another person or from another person to a supplier a contract or application for a medical care discount card or the renewal of a medical care discount card; or

  (c)acts or aids in another manner in the delivery or negotiation of a medical care discount card or the renewal or continuance of a medical care discount card. See Montana Code 33-38-102

• 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.
• Entity: includes :

  (a)a corporation and foreign corporation;

  (b)a business corporation and foreign business corporation;

  (c)a profit and nonprofit unincorporated association;

  (d)a corporation sole;

  (e)a business trust, an estate, a partnership, a trust, and two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest; and

  (f)a state, the United States, and a foreign government. See Montana Code 35-2-114

• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• External communications: includes any communication with the secretary of state, the attorney general, a state, or the United States. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• filing: means filed in the office of the secretary of state. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• Foreign corporation: means a corporation that is organized under a law other than the law of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe, and that would be a nonprofit corporation if formed under the laws of this state. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Foreign professional corporation: means a corporation for profit organized for the purpose of rendering professional services under a law other than the laws of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General public benefit: means a material, positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, as assessed against a third-party standard, from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. See Montana Code 35-1-1402
• 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.
• 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.
• Health care provider: means :

  (a)an individual licensed by the department of labor and industry to practice or who holds a temporary permit to practice a branch of the healing arts;

  (b)a professional corporation organized pursuant to Title 35, chapter 4, by one or more individuals described in subsection (3)(a);

  (c)a Montana limited liability company organized pursuant to Title 35, chapter 8, for the purpose of rendering professional services by individuals described in subsection (3)(a);

  (d)a partnership of individuals described in subsection (3)(a);

  (e)a Montana nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to Title 35, chapter 2, for the purpose of rendering professional health care services by one or more individuals described in subsection (3)(a); or

  (f)a health care facility as defined in 50-5-101. See Montana Code 33-38-102

• Health carrier: means an entity subject to the insurance laws and rules of this state that contracts, offers to contract, or enters into an agreement to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for, or reimburse any of the costs of health care services, including a disability insurer, health maintenance organization, or health service corporation or another entity providing a health benefit plan. See Montana Code 33-36-103
• Health insurance issuer: means a health insurance issuer, as defined in 33-22-140, that is authorized to do business in this state and its affiliates, as defined in 33-2-1101. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• in writing: means :

  (a)with respect to internal communications, any record in tangible or electronic form or any form allowed under Title 30, chapter 18, part 1; and

  (b)with respect to external communications, tangible records or any form authorized by the external party. See Montana Code 35-2-114

• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Independent: means having no material relationship with a benefit corporation or a subsidiary of a benefit corporation. See Montana Code 35-1-1402
• Individual: includes the estate of an incompetent individual. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Internal communications: includes any notice, vote, written consent, written ballot, demand, record, member list, corporate record, or any other communication between members, directors, delegates, proxies, third persons under 35-2-232, or the corporate secretary. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• 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.
• Licensing authority: means an officer, board, agency, court, or other authority in this state that has the power to issue a license or other legal authorization to render a professional service. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• 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.
• Medical care discount card: means a paper or plastic device or other mechanism, arrangement, account, or other device that does not constitute insurance, as defined in 33-1-201, that purports to grant, for consideration, a discount or access to a discount in a medical care-related purchase from a health care provider. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• Medical care discount card supplier: means a person engaged in selling or furnishing, either as principal or agent, for consideration, one or more medical care discount cards to another person or persons. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• Member: means , without regard to what a person is called in the articles or bylaws, a person or persons who, on more than one occasion and pursuant to a provision of a corporation's articles or bylaws, have the right to vote for the election of a director or directors. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Membership: refers to the rights and obligations a member or members have pursuant to a corporation's articles, bylaws, and this chapter. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Minimum status vote: means :

  (a)in the case of a corporation, that in addition to any other approval or vote required by law or by the articles of incorporation:

  (i)the shareholders of every class or series are entitled to vote on the corporate action regardless of any limitation stated in the articles of incorporation; and

  (ii)the corporate action must be approved by the outstanding shares of each class or series by at least two-thirds of the votes that all shareholders of the class or series are entitled to cast on that action or by a greater vote if required in the articles of incorporation; or

  (b)in the case of a domestic business entity other than a corporation and in addition to any other approval, vote, or consent required by law that principally governs the internal affairs of the domestic business entity or any provision of the publicly filed record or document required to form the domestic business entity, if any, or of any agreement binding some or all of the holders of equity interests in the entity:

  (i)the holders of every class or series of interest in the entity that are entitled to receive a distribution of any kind from the entity are entitled to vote on the action regardless of any otherwise applicable limitation on the voting rights of the interest; and

  (ii)the action must be approved by the vote or consent of the holders described in subsection (6)(b)(i) by at least two-thirds of the votes of the holders or by a greater vote if required in the publicly filed record, document, or agreement binding holders of equity interests. See Montana Code 35-1-1402

• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mutual benefit corporation: means a domestic corporation designated as a mutual benefit corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• Notice: means that term as described in 35-2-115. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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: includes any individual or entity. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Pharmacy discount card: means a paper or plastic device or other mechanism, arrangement, account, or other device that does not constitute insurance, as defined in 33-1-201, that purports to grant, for consideration, a discount or access to a discount on one or more prescription drugs, and that is not combined with another type of medical care discount. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• Pharmacy discount card supplier: means a person engaged in selling or furnishing, either as a principal or agent, for consideration, one or more pharmacy discount cards to another person or persons. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Preferred provider organization company: means a company that contracts with health care providers for lower fees than those customarily charged by the health care provider for services and contracts with health insurance issuers, administrators, or self-insured employers to provide access to those lower fees to a particular group of insureds, subscribers, participants, beneficiaries, members, or claimants. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• Prescription drug provider: means a pharmacy or other business that is contractually bound to provide a discount on one or more prescription drugs in conjunction with the use of a pharmacy discount card. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• presence: includes any form of electronic, virtual, or digital presence authorized by a corporation's articles or bylaws. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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.
• Principal office: means the office, in the state or out of the state, that is designated in the annual report filed pursuant to 35-2-904 as the place where the principal office of a domestic or foreign corporation is located. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Printing: means the act of reproducing a design on a surface by any process. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Proceeding: includes a civil suit and a criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Professional service: means any service that may lawfully be rendered only by persons licensed under a licensing law of this state and that may not lawfully be rendered by a corporation organized under the Montana Business Corporation Act. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Proxy voting: The practice of allowing a legislator to cast a vote in committee for an absent legislator.
• Public benefit corporation: means a domestic corporation designated as a public benefit corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Qualified person: means a natural person, general partnership, or professional corporation eligible under this chapter to own shares issued by a professional corporation. See Montana Code 35-4-109
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Record date: means the date established under part 5 on which a corporation determines the identity of its members for the purposes of this chapter. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• 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}
• Religious corporation: means a domestic corporation designated as a religious corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Remote communication: includes communication made by conference telephone call, internet, electronic, remote technology, or similar communication through which all participants in the meeting have the opportunity to read or hear the proceedings substantially concurrently with their occurrence, vote on matters submitted to the members, pose questions, and make comments. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the board of directors has delegated responsibility under 35-2-439(2) for custody of the minutes of the directors' and members' meetings and for authenticating the records of the corporation. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Service area: means the area within a 60-mile radius of the home or place of business of a medical care discount card user or pharmacy discount card user. See Montana Code 33-38-102
• 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.
• Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• signed: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

  (a)to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

  (b)to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process. See Montana Code 35-2-114

• Specific public benefit: means :

  (a)providing low-income or underserved individuals or communities with beneficial products or services;

  (b)promoting economic opportunity for individuals or communities beyond the creation of jobs in the ordinary course of business;

  (c)preserving the environment;

  (d)improving human health;

  (e)promoting the arts, sciences, or advancement of knowledge;

  (f)increasing the flow of capital to entities with a public benefit purpose; or

  (g)the accomplishment of any other particular benefit for society or the environment. See Montana Code 35-1-1402

• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• subscription: includes the mark of a person who cannot write if the person's name is written near the mark by another person who also signs that person's own name as a witness. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Subsidiary: means an entity in which a parent entity owns beneficially or of record 50% or more of the outstanding equity interests of the subsidiary. See Montana Code 35-1-1402
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Third persons: means all persons who are not parties to the obligation or transaction concerning which the phrase is used. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Third-party standard: means a standard for defining, reporting, and assessing overall corporate social and environmental performance to which all of the following apply:

  (a)the standard is a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the business and the business's operations on the considerations listed in 35-1-1406(2)(a);

  (b)the standard is developed by an entity that has no material financial relationship with the benefit corporation or any of its subsidiaries and:

  (i)not more than one-third of the members of the governing body of the entity are representatives of:

  (A)associations of businesses operating in a specific industry for which the performance is measured by the standard;

  (B)businesses from a specific industry or an association of businesses in that industry; or

  (C)businesses whose performance is assessed against the standard; and

  (ii)the entity is not materially financed by an association or business described in subsection (9)(b)(i);

  (c)the standard is developed by an entity that:

  (i)accesses necessary and appropriate expertise to assess overall corporate social and environmental performance; and

  (ii)uses a balanced multistakeholder approach, including a public comment period of at least 30 days, to develop the standard; and

  (d)the following information regarding the standard is publicly available:

  (i)the criteria considered when measuring the overall social and environmental performance of a business;

  (ii)the relative weightings assigned to the criteria described in subsection (9)(d)(i);

  (iii)the identity of the directors, the officers, any material owners, and the governing body of the entity that developed and controls revisions to the standard;

  (iv)the process by which revisions to the standard and changes to the membership of the governing body of the entity described in subsection (9)(d)(iii) are made; and

  (v)an accounting of the sources of financial support for the entity with sufficient detail to disclose any relationships that could reasonably be considered to present a potential conflict of interest. See Montana Code 35-1-1402

• 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.
• 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.
• United States: includes a district, an authority, a bureau, a commission, a department, and any other agency of the United States. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Usual: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• voting: includes but is not limited to the giving of consent in the form of a record provided electronically or by written ballot and written consent. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Voting power: means the total number of votes entitled to be cast for the election of directors at the time the determination of voting power is made. See Montana Code 35-2-114
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203