Terms Used In New York Laws > Mental Hygiene > Title C - Developmental Disabilities Act

• adoptor: shall mean a person adopting and "adoptive child" or "adoptee" shall mean a person adopted. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• AEM: means agricultural environmental management. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 150
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Authorized agency: shall mean an authorized agency as defined in the social services law and, for the purpose of this article, shall include such corporations incorporated or organized under the laws of this state as may be specifically authorized by their certificates of incorporation to receive children for purposes of adoption. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• 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.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: shall mean the board of trustees of the New York state higher education services corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
• commissioner: means the head of the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 13.03
• 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.
• Corporation: shall mean the New York state higher education services corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
• 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.
• 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.
• director of community services: means the director of community services for the mentally disabled appointed pursuant to article eleven of this chapter. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities. See N.Y. Debtor and Creditor Law 270
• 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.
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Federal student aid programs: shall mean the programs of the United States government making financial aid available to pay for the cost of attending post-secondary institutions and established under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, or any successor statute. See N.Y. Education Law 651
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Genetic surrogate: shall mean a person who gives birth to a child who is the person's genetic child pursuant to a genetic surrogate parenting agreement. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 121
• Genetic surrogate parenting agreement: shall mean any agreement, oral or written, in which:
  
  (a) a genetic surrogate agrees either to be inseminated with the sperm of a person who is not their spouse or to be impregnated with an embryo that is the product of the genetic surrogate's ovum fertilized with the sperm of a person who is not their spouse; and
  
  (b) the genetic surrogate agrees to, or intends to, surrender or consent to the adoption of the child born as a result of such insemination or impregnation. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 121
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• 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.
• in need of care and treatment: means that a person has a developmental disability and would benefit from care and treatment as a resident in a school. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
• in need of involuntary care and treatment: means that a person is in need of in-patient care and treatment as a resident in a school, that such care and treatment is essential to his or her welfare, and that his or her judgment is so impaired that he or she is unable to understand the need for such care and treatment and that he or she poses a real and present risk of substantial physical harm to himself or herself or others. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
• 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.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Judge: shall mean a judge of the family court of any county in the state. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• 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.
• Lawful custody: shall mean a custody (a) specifically authorized by statute or (b) pursuant to judgment, decree or order of a court or (c) otherwise authorized by law. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• 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}
• Lend: shall include one or more of the following services: the origination, disbursement, servicing, and/or collection of any student or parent education loan made by or on behalf of a lending institution a government entity, or an institution of higher education for the purpose of paying for higher education expenses as well as serving as a secondary market for these loans. See N.Y. Education Law 651
• lettuce: means iceberg type lettuce. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 160-P
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• local sponsor: shall mean any municipality, district or school district, as defined in the general municipal law, or any combination thereof. See N.Y. Education Law 272
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• minister: when used in this article, shall include those defined in § 2 of the religious corporations law. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 11
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• need for retention: means that a person who has been admitted to a school pursuant to this article is in need of involuntary care and treatment in a school for a further period. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
• noxious weeds: means any living stage (including but not limited to, seeds and reproductive parts) of any parasitic or other plant of a kind, or subdivision of a kind, which is of foreign origin, is new to or not widely prevalent in this state, and can directly or indirectly injure crops, other useful plants, livestock, or poultry or other interests of agriculture, including irrigation. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 161
• nursery: means the grounds and premises, private or public, on or in which nursery stock is propagated, grown or cultivated for the purpose of distribution or selling the same as a business and shall include grounds or premises owned, leased or managed by the state or any agency of the state government, and the owner or operator of such business shall be a "nursery grower"; provided, however, that the term "nursery grower" shall not include persons engaged in the part-time production of plant products not sold in the regular channels of business. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 161
• 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.
• office: means the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 13.03
• 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.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Petitioner: means a person who seeks enforcement of an order for return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or enforcement of a child custody determination. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 77
• 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.
• President: shall mean the president of the corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
• Private-placement adoption: shall mean any adoption other than that of a minor who has been placed for adoption by an authorized agency. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• 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.
• public library system: as used in this article means:
  
  (1) A library established by one or more counties. See N.Y. Education Law 272
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• reference and research library resources system: as used in this article means a duly chartered educational institution resulting from the association of a group of institutions of higher education, libraries, non-profit educational institutions, hospitals, and other institutions organized to improve reference and research library resources service. See N.Y. Education Law 272
• 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.
• Respondent: means a person against whom a proceeding has been commenced for enforcement of an order for return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or enforcement of a child custody determination. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 77
• 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.
• soil: means the commonly accepted medium or other medium in which plants are grown and which is or may be capable of harboring or transmitting insect pests and plant diseases. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 161
• Soil health: means soils that have the continuing capacity to function as a vital, living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 151-L
• Soil health practices: means agricultural and land management practices that improve the function of soils through actions that follow the principles of: minimizing soil disturbance from soil preparation; maximizing soil vegetation cover; maximizing the diversity of beneficial soil organisms; maximizing presence of living roots; and integrating animals into land management; and in support of such principles, include such practices as conservation tillage or no-till, cover-cropping, precision nitrogen and phosphorous application, planned rotational grazing, integrated crop-livestock systems, agroforestry, perennial crops, integrated pest management, nutrient best management practices, and those practices recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and that are supported by the state soil and water conservation committee. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 151-L
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Surrogate: shall mean the surrogate of any county in the state and any other judicial officer while acting in the capacity of surrogate. See N.Y. Domestic Relations Law 109
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• 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.