Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 4-5 - Tuberculosis Control

• Adult: means an individual who has attained the age of twenty-one (21) years. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• advisor: includes a trust "protector" or any other person who, in addition to a qualified trustee, holds one or more trust powers. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Broker: means a person lawfully engaged in the business of effecting transactions in securities or commodities for the person's own account or for the account of others. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Certificate of limited partnership: means the certificate required by Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Charitable trusts: as used in this chapter means any fiduciary relationship with respect to property arising as a result of a manifestation of an intention to create it and subjecting the person by whom the property is held to equitable duties to deal with the property for charitable, educational, or religious purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9-4
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Claim: means a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal equitable, secured or unsecured. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• 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.
• Conservator: means a person appointed or qualified by a court to act as general, limited, or temporary guardian of a minor's property or a person legally authorized to perform substantially the same functions. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Court: means probate court. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Creditor: means , with respect to a transferor, a person who has claim. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Custodial property: means :

  (i)  Any interest in property transferred to a custodian under this chapter; and

  (ii)  The income from and proceeds of that interest in property. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2

• Custodian: means a person designated under § 18-7-10 or a successor or substitute custodian designated under § 18-7-19. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Debt: means liability on a claim. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• 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.
• Deliver: means either physically transferring a paper document to the secretary of state or transferring a document to the secretary of state by electronic transmission through a medium provided and authorized by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Disposition: means a transfer, conveyance or assignment of property (including a change in the legal ownership of property occurring upon the substitution of one trustee for another or the addition of one or more new trustees), or the exercise of a power so as to cause a transfer of property, to a trustee or trustees, but shall not include the release or relinquishment of an interest that theretofore was the subject of a qualified disposition. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic transmission: means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved, and renewed by a recipient thereof, and may be directly reproduced in a paper form by such a recipient through an automated process. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• 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
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial institution: means a bank, trust company, savings institution, or credit union, chartered and supervised under state or federal law. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• 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.
• 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}
• Foreign limited partnership: means an unincorporated entity formed under the law of a jurisdiction other than this state which would be a limited partnership if formed under the law of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• former spouse: means only persons to whom the transferor was married at, or before the time the qualified disposition is made. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• General partner: means a person that:

  (i)  Has become a general partner under Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102

• 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.
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legal representative: means an individual's personal representative or conservator. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• 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.
• Limited partner: means a person that:

  (i)  Has become a limited partner under Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102

• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Minor: means an individual who has not attained the age of twenty-one (21) years. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation; the word "sworn" includes affirmed; and the word "engaged" includes either sworn or affirmed. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-11
• 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.
• Partner: means a limited partner or general partner. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• 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 agreement: means the agreement, whether or not referred to as a partnership agreement and whether oral, implied, in a record, or in any combination thereof, of all the partners of a limited partnership concerning the matters described in Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Person: means an individual, corporation, organization, or other legal entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Person: means an individual, business corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, unincorporated nonprofit association, cooperative housing corporation, workers' cooperative, producers' cooperative, consumer's cooperative, statutory trust, business trust, common-law business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: means an executor, administrator, successor personal representative, or special administrator of a decedent's estate or a person legally authorized to perform substantially the same functions. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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}
• Principal office: means the principal executive office of a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership, whether or not the office is located in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes real property, personal property, and interests in real or personal property. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Qualified disposition: means a disposition by or from a transferor to a trustee, with or without consideration, by means of a trust instrument. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Qualified trustee: means a person who:

  (i)  In the case of natural person, is a resident of this state other than the transferor, or, in all other cases, is authorized by the provisions of the general or public laws to act as a trustee, and whose activities are subject to supervision by the department of business regulation, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Office of Thrift Supervision, or any successor to them; and

  (ii)  Maintains or arranges for custody in this state of some or all of the property that is the subject of the qualified disposition, maintains records for the trust on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis, prepares or arranges for the preparation of fiduciary income tax returns for the trust, or otherwise materially participates in the administration of the trust. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2

• real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
• 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}
• Registered agent: means an agent of a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership which is authorized to receive service of any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the partnership. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Registered foreign limited partnership: means a foreign limited partnership that is registered to do business in this state pursuant to a statement of registration filed by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• 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.
• Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• 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.
• Sign: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

  (i)  To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

  (ii)  To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102

• State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• 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.
• 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.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• Transfer: means a transaction that creates custodial property under § 18-7-10. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Transfer: includes :

  (i)  An assignment;

  (ii)  A conveyance;

  (iii)  A sale;

  (iv)  A lease;

  (v)  An encumbrance, including a mortgage or security interest;

  (vi)  A gift; and

  (vii)  A transfer by operation of law. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102

• Transferable interest: means the right, as initially owned by a person in the person's capacity as a partner, to receive distributions from a limited partnership, whether or not the person remains a partner or continues to own any part of the right. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-13.1-102
• Transferor: means a person who makes a transfer under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Transferor: means a natural person who, or entity which, as an owner of property or as a holder of a general power of appointment, which authorizes the holder to appoint in favor of the holder, the holder's creditors, the holder's estate or the creditors of the holder's estate, or as a trustee, directly or indirectly, makes a disposition or causes a disposition to be made. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust company: means a financial institution, corporation, or other legal entity, authorized to exercise general trust powers. See Rhode Island General Laws 18-7-2
• Trust instrument: means an instrument appointing a qualified trustee or qualified trustees for the property that is the subject of a disposition, which instrument:

  (i)  Expressly incorporates the general or public laws of this state to govern the validity, construction, and administration of the trust;

  (ii)  Is irrevocable; provided, that a trust instrument shall not be deemed revocable due to its inclusion in one or more of the following:

  (A)  A transferor's power to veto a distribution from the trust;

  (B)  A power of appointment (other than a power to appoint to the transferor, the transferor's creditors, the transferor's estate or the creditors of the transferor's estate) exercisable by will or other written instrument of the transferor effective only upon the transferor's death;

  (C)  The transferor's potential or actual receipt of income, including rights to such income retained in the trust instrument;

  (D)  The transferor's potential or actual receipt of income or principal from a charitable remainder unitrust or charitable remainder annuity trust as such terms are defined in § 664 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [Rhode Island General Laws 18-9.2-2

• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.