Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 14 > Chapter 111 - Guardianship

• Account: means an arrangement under a terms-of-service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user. See
• Administrator: means the administrator of the U. See
• Adult: means an individual who has attained 21 years of age. See
• 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.
• Agent: means an attorney-in-fact granted authority under a durable or nondurable power of attorney. See
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Benefits: means all monies paid or payable by the United States through the Veterans Administration. See
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• 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
• Carries: means engages in the transmission of an electronic communication. See
• Catalogue of electronic communications: means information that identifies each person with whom a user has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the communication, and the electronic address of the person. See
• certificate of limited partnership: means the certificate referred to in section 3411 of this title, and the certificate as amended or restated. See
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• children: means an unmarried individual or individuals who have not yet attained 21 years of age and who are not a U. See
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• 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.
• Content of an electronic communication: means information concerning the substance or meaning of a communication that:

• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contribution: means any cash, property, services rendered, or a promissory note or other binding obligation to contribute cash or property or to perform services, which a partner contributes to a limited partnership in his or her capacity as a partner. See
• 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 any Probate Division of the Superior Court within this state for the district wherein the ward resides. See
• Court: means the Probate Division of the Superior Court. See
• Court: means the Probate Division of the Superior Court of Vermont. See
• Court: means any court that has jurisdiction over an unmarried individual or individuals who have not yet attained 21 years of age and who are not a U. See
• Custodial property: means :

• Custodian: means a person so designated under section 3219 of this title or a successor or substitute custodian designated under section 3228 of this title. See
• Custodian: means a person who carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user. See
• 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.
• Designated recipient: means a person chosen by a user using an online tool to administer digital assets of the user. See
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Digital asset: means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See
• Electronic-communication service: means a custodian who provides to a user the ability to send or receive an electronic communication. See
• 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}
• Estate: means income on hand and assets acquired partially or wholly with "income. See
• 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
• Executor: includes administrator with the will annexed. See
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary: includes executor, administrator, special administrator, trustee, conservator, guardian of a minor, guardian of a spendthrift, voluntary guardian of a person who has an infirmity and total or limited guardian of an adult with a developmental disability, but excludes one who is merely a guardian ad litem. See
• Fiduciary: means an original, additional, or successor personal representative, guardian, agent, or trustee. See
• Financial guardian: means a person who has been appointed by the Probate Division as financial guardian for a minor pursuant to section 2659 of this title, or a person legally authorized to perform substantially the same functions. See
• Financial institution: means a bank, trust company, savings institution, or credit union, chartered and supervised under state or federal law. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• 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 a partnership formed under laws other than the laws of this State and having as partners one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General partner: means a person who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a general partner in accordance with the partnership agreement and named in the certificate of limited partnership as a general partner. See
• 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.
• Guardian: means any fiduciary for the person or estate of a ward. See
• Guardian: means a person appointed by a court to manage the estate of a living individual. See
• Income: means monies received from the Veterans' Administration and revenue or profit from any property wholly or partially acquired therewith. See
• Information: means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like. See
• Informed consent: means the consent given voluntarily by an individual with capacity after being fully informed of the nature, benefits, risks, and consequences of the proposed health care, alternative health care, and no health care. See
• 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}
• Interested person: includes heirs, devisees, legatees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, and any others having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent, or person under guardianship that may be affected by the proceeding. See
• Interested person: means a responsible adult who has a direct interest in a person in need of guardianship and includes the person in need of guardianship, a near relative, a close friend, a guardian, public official, social worker, physician, agent named in an advance directive or in a power of attorney, person nominated as guardian in an advance directive, or member of the clergy. See
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• 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. See
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• 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 who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a limited partner in accordance with the partnership agreement. See
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Magistrate: shall mean any Supreme Court Justice, Superior judge, District judge, or Probate judge. See
• Minor: means an individual who has not attained 21 years of age. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Near relative: means a parent, stepparent, brother, sister, grandparent, spouse, domestic partner, or adult child. See
• Noncitizen: means any person who is not a U. See
• 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.
• Online tool: means an electronic service provided by a custodian that allows the user, in an agreement distinct from the terms-of-service agreement between the custodian and user, to provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital assets to a third person. See
• Partner: means a limited or general partner. See
• 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 any valid agreement, written or oral, of the partners as to the affairs of a limited partnership and the conduct of its business. See
• Partnership interest: means a partner's share of the profits and losses of a limited partnership and the right to receive distributions of partnership assets. See
• Person: means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or an association. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, organization, or other legal entity. See
• Person: means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity. See
• Person: means a natural person, partnership, limited partnership (domestic or foreign), trust, estate, association, corporation, or limited liability company. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person in need of guardianship: means a person who:

• Person under guardianship: means an individual for whom a guardian has been appointed. See
• Person under guardianship: means a person in need of guardianship for whom a guardianship order has been issued. See
• Personal estate: shall include all property other than real estate. See
• 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
• Personal representative: means an executor, administrator, or special administrator, or a person who performs substantially the same function as an executor, administrator, or special administrator under law of this State other than this chapter. See
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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}
• Power of attorney: means a record that grants an agent authority to act in the place of a principal. See
• 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.
• Principal: means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See
• Remote-computing service: means a custodian who provides a user with computer-processing services or the storage of digital assets by means of an electronic communications system as defined in 18 U. See
• Respondent: means a person who is the subject of a petition filed pursuant to section 3063 of this title or a person under guardianship who is the subject of any subsequent petition, motion, or action filed pursuant to this subchapter. See
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
• 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.
• Similar circumstances: means a condition or conditions that have an effect on a child comparable to abuse, neglect, or abandonment, including the death of a parent. See
• 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
• State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Terms-of-service agreement: means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian. See
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• 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: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• 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.
• Transfer: means a transaction that creates custodial property under section 3219 of this title. See
• Transferor: means a person who makes a transfer under this chapter. See
• 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.
• Trustee: means a fiduciary with legal title to property under an agreement or declaration that creates a beneficial interest in another. See
• Trustor: The person who makes or creates a trust. Also known as the grantor or settlor.
• User: means a person who has an account with a custodian. See
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Vulnerable: means there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child's health, safety, or welfare is in jeopardy due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or similar circumstances and that return to the child's or the child's parent's country of origin or country of last habitual residence would not be in the best interests of the child. See
• Ward: means a beneficiary of the Veterans' Administration. See
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.