Terms Used In Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1115 - Suitability of Certain Annuity Transactions

• Act: means a bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Actor: means a person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal action. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Agency: includes authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, department, district, division, and office. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Bodily injury: means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Child: includes an adopted child, regardless of whether the adoption occurred through:
  (1) an existing or former statutory procedure; or
  (2) an equitable adoption or acts of estoppel. See Texas Estates Code 22.004
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying mental state. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Consent: means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Court: means and includes:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
  (3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Effective consent: includes consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
  (1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
  (2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
  (3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012
• 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.
• 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.
• Felony: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Government: means :
  (A) the state;
  (B) a county, municipality, or political subdivision of the state; or
  (C) any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality, or political subdivision. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• 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}
• Judge: means the presiding judge of any court having original jurisdiction over probate proceedings, regardless of whether the court is:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise probate jurisdiction; or
  (3) a district court exercising probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.019
• 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: means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States, a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, an order of a county commissioners court, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Minor: means a person younger than 18 years of age who:
  (1) has never been married; and
  (2) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. See Texas Estates Code 22.022
• Misdemeanor: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by fine, by confinement in jail, or by both fine and confinement in jail. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• 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.
• Owner: means a person who:
  (A) has title to the property, possession of the property, whether lawful or not, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor; or
  (B) is a holder in due course of a negotiable instrument. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Peace officer: means a person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under Article Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
• Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Public servant: means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if he has not yet qualified for office or assumed his duties:
  (A) an officer, employee, or agent of government;
  (B) a juror or grand juror; or
  (C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy; or
  (D) an attorney at law or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or
  (E) a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or
  (F) a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right although he is not legally qualified to do so. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Serious bodily injury: means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
• Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• sworn: includes affirm or affirmed. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Texas Estates Code 22.033
• Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005