Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 1 > Article 44B - Structured Settlement Protection Act

• accountant: is a person engaged in the public practice of accountancy who is not a certified public accountant as defined in this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 93-1
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• 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.
• Agency: means the North Carolina Housing Finance agency. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• Agreement materials: means those materials licensed by the State under agreement with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and which include by-product, source or special nuclear materials in a quantity not sufficient to form a critical mass, as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Agreement state: means any state which has consummated an agreement with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission under the authority of section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended, as authorized by compatible state legislation providing for acceptance by that state of licensing authority for agreement materials and the discontinuance of such licensing activities by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Agricultural Loan: means a loan made by a lending institution or by the Authority to any person for the purpose of financing or refinancing land acquisition or improvement; soil conservation; irrigation; construction, renovation or expansion of buildings and facilities; purchase of farm fixtures, livestock, poultry, and fish of any kind; seeds; fertilizers; pesticides; feeds; machinery; equipment; containers or supplies or any other products employed in the production, cultivation, harvesting, storage, marketing, distribution or export of agricultural products. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• Agriculture: means the commercial production, storage, processing, marketing, distribution or export of any agronomic, floricultural, horticultural, viticultural, silvicultural or aquacultural crop including, but not limited to, farm products, livestock and livestock products, poultry and poultry products, milk and dairy products, fruit and other horticultural products, and seafood and aquacultural products. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Atomic energy: means all forms of energy released in the course of nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or other atomic transformations. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Authority: means the North Carolina Agricultural Finance Authority created by this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• 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.
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• 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}
• Bicycle: means a human-powered vehicle with two wheels in tandem designed to transport, by the action of pedaling, one or more persons seated on one or more saddle seats on its frame. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Board: means the Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners as provided in this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 93-1
• By-product material: means any radioactive material, except special nuclear material, yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear material. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• certified public accountant: is a person who holds a certificate as a certified public accountant issued under the provisions of this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 93-1
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• claimant: includes plaintiff's decedent, guardian, or guardian ad litem. See North Carolina General Statutes 99B-1
• 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.
• Commission: means the Radiation Protection Commission. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Commissioner: means the North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Health and Human Services. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Department: means the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Diamond Shamrock Litigation Funds: means funds received by North Carolina, and all interest and other income generated by such funds, pursuant to the Order of the Court, dated June 6, 1986, in Diamond Shamrock Refining and Marketing Co. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• 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.
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Emergency: means any condition existing outside the bounds of nuclear operating sites owned or licensed by a federal agency, and further any condition existing within or outside of the jurisdictional confines of a facility licensed by the Department and arising from the presence of by-product material, source material, special nuclear materials, or other radioactive materials, which is endangering or could reasonably be expected to endanger the health and safety of the public, or to contaminate the environment. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Engineered barrier: means a man-made structure or device that is intended to improve a disposal facility's ability to meet (i) the performance objectives of Subpart C, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations Part 61 in effect on 1 January 1987, (ii) other requirements set out in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• 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.
• Federal government: means the United States of America and any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fund: means the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Ionizing radiation: means gamma rays and x-rays, alpha and beta particles, high speed electrons, protons, neutrons, and other nuclear particles; but not sound or radio waves, or visible, infrared, or ultraviolet light. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Lending institution: means any bank, bank or trust company, federal land bank, production credit association, bank for cooperatives, building and loan association, homestead, insurance company, investment banker, mortgage banker or company, pension or retirement fund, savings bank or savings and loan association, small business investment company, credit union, the federal government or any other financial institution authorized to do business in North Carolina or operating under the supervision of any federal agency or any corporation organized or operating pursuant to Section 25 of the Federal Reserve Act. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• 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.
• Low-level radioactive waste: means low-level radioactive waste as defined in the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, Pub. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: means any low-level radioactive waste facility or any portion of such facility, including land, buildings, and equipment, which is used or intended to be used for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste on or in land in accordance with rules promulgated under this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Low-level radioactive waste facility: means a facility for the storage, collection, processing, treatment, recycling, recovery, or disposal of low-level radioactive waste. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Manufacturer: means a person or entity who designs, assembles, fabricates, produces, constructs or otherwise prepares a product or component part of a product prior to its sale to a user or consumer, including a seller owned in whole or significant part by the manufacturer or a seller owning the manufacturer in whole or significant part. See North Carolina General Statutes 99B-1
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Nonionizing radiation: means radiation in any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum not defined as ionizing radiation, including, but not limited to, such sources as laser, maser or microwave devices. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• notes: means the bonds, notes, renewal notes, refunding bonds, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures, warrants, commercial paper, or other obligations or evidences of indebtedness authorized to be issued by the Authority pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: shall be construed to include "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in like cases the word "sworn" shall be construed to include the word "affirmed. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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.
• Operator: means a person who travels on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat from which that person is intended to and can pedal the bicycle. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Other public right-of-way: means any right-of-way other than a public roadway or public bicycle path that is under the jurisdiction and control of this State or a local political subdivision of the State and is designed for use and used by vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Partnership: means the North Carolina Housing Partnership. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• Passenger: means a person who travels on a bicycle in any manner except as an operator. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of this State, any other state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing, other than the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, and other than federal government agencies licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: shall include moneys, goods, chattels, choses in action and evidences of debt, including all things capable of ownership, not descendable to heirs at law. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Persons: means any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, company, cooperative, association, society, trust or any other business unit or entity, including any state or federal agency. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• 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.
• 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.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• 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.
• Private law: A private bill enacted into law. Private laws have restricted applicability, often addressing immigration and naturalization issues affecting individuals.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Product liability action: includes any action brought for or on account of personal injury, death or property damage caused by or resulting from the manufacture, construction, design, formulation, development of standards, preparation, processing, assembly, testing, listing, certifying, warning, instructing, marketing, selling, advertising, packaging, or labeling of any product. See North Carolina General Statutes 99B-1
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Protective bicycle helmet: means a piece of headgear that meets or exceeds the impact standards for protective bicycle helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the Snell Memorial Foundation. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Public bicycle path: means a right-of-way under the jurisdiction and control of this State or a local political subdivision of the State for use primarily by bicycles and pedestrians. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public roadway: means a right-of-way under the jurisdiction and control of this State or a local political subdivision of the State for use primarily by motor vehicles. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Radiation: means gamma rays and x-rays, alpha and beta particles, high speed electrons, protons, neutrons, and other nuclear particles, and electromagnetic radiation consisting of associated and interacting electric and magnetic waves including those with frequencies between three times 10 to the eighth power cycles per second and three times 10 to the twenty-fourth power cycles per second and wavelengths between one times 10 to the minus fourteenth power centimeters and 100 centimeters. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Radioactive material: means any solid, liquid, or gas which emits ionizing radiation spontaneously. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• 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}
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Restraining seat: means a seat separate from the saddle seat of the operator of the bicycle that is fastened securely to the frame of the bicycle and is adequately equipped to restrain the passenger in such seat and protect such passenger from the moving parts of the bicycle. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• safety glass: as used in this Article shall be construed as meaning glass so treated or combined with other materials as to reduce, in comparison with ordinary sheet glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injury to persons by glass when the glass is cracked or broken. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-135
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of such official seal, made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression made by means of a wafer or of wax affixed thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Seller: includes a retailer, wholesaler, or distributor, and means any individual or entity engaged in the business of selling a product, whether such sale is for resale or for use or consumption. See North Carolina General Statutes 99B-1
• 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.
• Shallow land burial: means disposal of low-level radioactive waste in subsurface trenches without the additional confinement of the waste as described in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Source material: means (i) uranium, thorium, or any other material which the Department declares to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto has determined the material to be such; or (ii) ores containing one or more of the foregoing materials, in such concentration as the Department declares to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, has determined the material in such concentration to be source material. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Special nuclear material: means (i) plutonium, uranium 233, uranium 235, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the Department declares to be special nuclear material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, has determined the material to be such, but does not include source material; or (ii) any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• Specific license: means a license, issued after application, to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own or process quantities of, or devices or equipment utilizing by-product, source, special nuclear materials, or other radioactive materials occurring naturally or produced artificially. See North Carolina General Statutes 104E-5
• State: means the State of North Carolina or any agency or instrumentality thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 122D-3
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stripper Well Litigation Funds: means funds received by North Carolina, and all interest and other income generated by such funds, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement that was approved by Order of the Court, dated July 7, 1986, in In re: The Department of Energy Stripper Well Exemption Litigation M. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• 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.
• 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.
• Treasurer: means the North Carolina State Treasurer. See North Carolina General Statutes 122E-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trial jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• Tricycle: means a three-wheeled, human-powered vehicle designed for use as a toy by a single child under the age of six years, the seat of which is no more than two feet from ground level. See North Carolina General Statutes 20-171.8
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.