Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 46 > Chapter 45 - Nuisance Suits Related to Agricultural Operations

• Abuse: means physical abuse or psychological abuse. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• 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}
• 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.
• 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.
• Exploitation: means :
  
  (a) causing or requiring a vulnerable adult to engage in activity or labor which is improper, unlawful, or against the reasonable and rational wishes of the vulnerable adult. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• Facility: means a nursing care facility, community residential care facility, a psychiatric hospital, or any residential program operated or contracted for operation by the Department of Mental Health or the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• 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.
• 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.
• Investigative entity: means the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, the Adult Protective Services Program in the Department of Social Services, the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Neglect: means the failure or omission of a caregiver to provide the care, goods, or services necessary to maintain the health or safety of a vulnerable adult including, but not limited to, food, clothing, medicine, shelter, supervision, and medical services and the failure or omission has caused, or presents a substantial risk of causing, physical or mental injury to the vulnerable adult. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• Occupational licensing board: means a health professional licensing board which is a state agency that licenses and regulates health care providers and includes, but is not limited to, the Board of Long Term Health Care Administrators, State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, State Board of Medical Examiners, State Board of Social Work Examiners, and the State Board of Dentistry. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• 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.
• Protective services: means those services whose objective is to protect a vulnerable adult from harm caused by the vulnerable adult or another. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Vulnerable adult: means a person eighteen years of age or older who has a physical or mental condition which substantially impairs the person from adequately providing for his or her own care or protection. See South Carolina Code 43-35-10