Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 36 > Chapter 3 - Marriage

• Abuse: means :
  (A) Inflicting, or attempting to inflict, physical injury on an adult or minor by other than accidental means. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Activities under service agreements: means day-to-day cooperation and activities based upon interlocal service or operational agreements or contracts between or among governmental entities. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• acute hazardous waste: means any hazardous waste as defined in part 1 of this chapter, and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, and for which the generator is required to notify the department pursuant to such regulations. See Tennessee Code 68-212-303
• Adult: means any person eighteen (18) years of age or older, or who is otherwise emancipated. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Agency: means the Tennessee emergency management agency (TEMA). See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Aid: means the same as assistance, except that aid is provided in an occurrence during any period of time when a state of emergency has not been declared. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assistance: means the provision of personnel, equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and other resources to assist in firefighting, law enforcement, the provision of public works services, the provision of emergency medical care, the provision of civil defense services, or any other emergency assistance one governmental entity is able to provide to another in response to a request for assistance in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Attorney general: means the attorney general and reporter and any assistant thereto by whatever name known, any district attorney general and any assistant thereto by whatever name called, and any officer or full-time employee of the general assembly or any committee thereof established by statute, who is duly licensed to practice law in Tennessee, whose duty it is to provide facilities for drafting bills or to assist individual legislators in drafting bills or who renders legal advice and services to the members of the general assembly or committees thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of 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.
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Board: means the underground storage tanks and solid waste disposal control board as established by §. See Tennessee Code 68-212-303
• 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.
• Commissioner: means any person in office as a member of the public service commission, as prescribed by title 65, chapter 1, prior to June 30, 1996. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of environment and conservation or the commissioner's authorized representative. See Tennessee Code 68-212-303
• 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.
• Compacts: means the emergency management compacts included in parts 4 and 7 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• County executive: means and includes "county mayor" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• court: means any court of record with jurisdiction over domestic relations matters or the general sessions criminal court. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Credentialing: means obtaining, verifying, and assessing the qualifications of a health practitioner to provide treatment, care or services in or for a health facility. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• 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.
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Department: means the department of environment and conservation. See Tennessee Code 68-212-303
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Disaster: means any natural, technological, or civil emergency that results in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property of sufficient severity and magnitude that there is a declaration, resulting from the emergency, of a disaster by the governor under state law or the president under federal law. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Disaster: means any natural, technological, or civil emergency that causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to result in a declaration of a state emergency by a county, the governor, or the president of the United States. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Disaster relief organization: means an entity that provides emergency or disaster relief services that include health services provided by volunteer health practitioners and that:
  (A) Is designated or recognized as a provider of those services pursuant to a disaster response and recovery plan adopted by an agency of the federal government, the department or TEMA. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Domestic abuse: means committing abuse against a victim, as defined in subdivision (5). See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Emergency: means an occurrence or threat of an occurrence, whether natural or man-made, that results in or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property and which results in a declaration of a state of emergency by a municipal mayor, a county mayor or executive, the governor, or the president. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Emergency: means an occurrence, or threat thereof, whether natural, technological, or manmade, in war or in peace, that results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population, or substantial damage to or loss of property. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Emergency assistance: means assistance provided by a participating governmental entity to another under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Emergency management: means the preparation for, the mitigation of, the response to, and the recovery from emergencies and disasters. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Employee: means paid, volunteer, and auxiliary personnel and emergency management workers of a governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Employer: means :
  (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Entity: includes a firm, business, for profit and not-for-profit corporation, profit and not-for-profit unincorporated association, partnership, and two (2) or more persons having a joint or common economic interest. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Entity: means a person other than an individual. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• 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}
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Executor: includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Facility: means :
  (A) Any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft. See Tennessee Code 68-212-401
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Firearm: means any weapon designed, made or adapted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or any device readily convertible to that use. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• 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}
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governmental entity: means any political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, any incorporated city or town, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving public funds and recognized under title 68, chapter 102, part 3, rescue squad, human resource agency, public building authority, airport authority, and development district, or any instrumentality of government created by one (1) or more of these named governmental entities or the general assembly, or any entity otherwise recognized by state law as a local governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• 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.
• Health practitioner: means an individual licensed under any chapter of titles 62, 63 or 68, or their counterparts in another state, to provide health services. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Health services: means :
  (A) The provision of treatment, care, advice or guidance, other services, or supplies related to the health or death of individuals or human populations, to the extent necessary to respond to an emergency, including:

  (i) The following, concerning the physical or mental condition or functional status of an individual or affecting the structure or function of the body:

  (a) Preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or palliative care. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Host entity: means an entity operating in this state that uses volunteer health practitioners to respond to an emergency. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Insane: includes all persons of unsound mind. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: includes authorization under the laws of this state to an individual to provide health services based upon a national certification issued by a public or private entity. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Occurrence: means the imminent threat of an event or an actual event and its aftermath, whether natural or man-made, that could lead to or results in bodily injury or property damage. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Participating governmental entity: means any governmental entity in the state that requests or responds to a request for aid or assistance under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• 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.
• Person: includes a natural person or entity organized under the laws of this state or any other state or territory of the United States or the federal government, as the case may be, and includes both the singular and plural. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Petitioner: means the person alleging domestic abuse, stalking, sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual assault, or a human trafficking offense in a petition for an order for protection. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Political subdivision: means any municipality or county, including any county having metropolitan form of government, created pursuant to law. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
• 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.
• Preferred response: means law enforcement officers shall arrest a person committing domestic abuse unless there is a clear and compelling reason not to arrest. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Privileging: means the authorizing by an appropriate authority, such as a governing body, of a health practitioner to provide specific treatment, care, or services at a health facility subject to limits based on factors that include license, education, training, experience, competence, health status, and specialized skill. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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.
• Requesting party: means a governmental entity that requests aid or assistance from another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Respondent: means the person alleged to have abused, stalked or sexually assaulted another in a petition for an order for protection. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Responding party: means a governmental entity that has received and responded to a request to provide mutual aid or assistance to another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Scope of practice: means the extent of the authorization to provide health services granted to a health practitioner by a license issued to the practitioner in the state in which the principal part of the practitioner's services are rendered, including any conditions imposed by the licensing authority. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Sexual assault victim: means any person, regardless of the relationship with the perpetrator, who has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in fear of any form of rape, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• Stalking victim: means any person, regardless of the relationship with the perpetrator, who has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in fear of the offense of stalking, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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 Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• TEMA: means the Tennessee emergency management agency. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• waste reduction: means the reduction or elimination of waste at the source, usually within a process, including process modifications, feedstock substitutions, improvements in feedstock purity, housekeeping and management practices, increases in the efficiency of machinery and on-site, closed-loop recycling, or any action that reduces the amount and toxicity of the waste exiting the production process. See Tennessee Code 68-212-303
• Weapon: means a firearm or a device listed in §. See Tennessee Code 36-3-601