Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 19.2 > Chapter 3 - Magistrates

• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Ascertainable standard: means a standard relating to an individual's health, education, support, or maintenance within the meaning of § 2041(b)(1)(A) or 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any applicable regulations. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorized fiduciary: means (i) a trustee or other fiduciary, other than a settlor, that has discretion to distribute or direct a trustee to distribute part or all of the income or principal of the first trust to one or more current beneficiaries and that is not (a) a current beneficiary of the first trust or a beneficiary to which the net income or principal of the first trust would be distributed if the first trust were terminated, (b) a trustee of the first trust that may be removed and replaced by a current beneficiary who has the power to remove the existing trustee of the first trust and designate as successor trustee a person that may be a related or subordinate party, as defined in Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: means a person that (i) has a present or future, vested or contingent, beneficial interest in a trust; (ii) holds a power of appointment over trust property; or (iii) is an identified charitable organization that will or may receive distributions under the terms of the trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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}
• Board of supervisors: means the governing body of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Charitable interest: means an interest in a trust that (i) is held by an identified charitable organization and makes the organization a qualified beneficiary; (ii) benefits only charitable organizations and, if the interest were held by an identified charitable organization, would make the organization a qualified beneficiary; or (iii) is held solely for charitable purposes and, if the interest were held by an identified charitable organization, would make the organization a qualified beneficiary. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Charitable organization: means (i) a person, other than an individual, organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes or (ii) a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, to the extent that it holds funds exclusively for a charitable purpose. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Charitable purpose: means the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health, a municipal or other governmental purpose, or another purpose the achievement of which is beneficial to the community. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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.
• Conservator: means a person appointed by the court to administer the estate of an adult individual. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Council: means the governing body of a city or town. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Court: means any court vested with appropriate jurisdiction under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• Court: means the court of the Commonwealth having jurisdiction in matters related to trusts. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Current beneficiary: includes the holder of a presently exercisable general power of appointment but does not include a person that is a beneficiary only because the person holds any other power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decanting power: means the power of an authorized fiduciary under the Uniform Trust Decanting Act (§ Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Environmental law: means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating to protection of the environment. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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.
• Expanded distributive discretion: means a discretionary power of distribution that is not limited to an ascertainable standard or a reasonably definite standard. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Fiduciary: includes a guardian, committee, trustee, executor, conservator, or personal representative. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• First trust: means a trust over which an authorized fiduciary may exercise the decanting power. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• First-trust instrument: means the trust instrument for a first trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• General power of appointment: means a power of appointment exercisable in favor of a powerholder, the powerholder's estate, a creditor of the powerholder, or a creditor of the powerholder's estate. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Guardian: means a person appointed by the court to make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, and welfare of a minor or adult individual. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Interests of the beneficiaries: means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• Judge: means any judge, associate judge or substitute judge of any court or any magistrate. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• 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}
• 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.
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Marital deduction: The deduction(s) that can be taken in the determination of gift and estate tax liabilities because of the existence of a marriage or marital relationship.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• Person: means an individual; estate; business or nonprofit entity; government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or other legal entity. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: includes the executor under a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• Power of appointment: means a power that enables a powerholder acting in a nonfiduciary capacity to designate a recipient of an ownership interest in or another power of appointment over the appointive property. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Powerholder: means a person in which a donor creates a power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Presently exercisable power of appointment: includes a power of appointment exercisable only after the occurrence of a specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable standard, or the passage of a specified time, only after (i) the occurrence of the specified event, (ii) the satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or (iii) the passage of the specified time. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Qualified beneficiary: means a beneficiary who, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined, (i) is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal; (ii) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the interests of the distributees described in clause (i) terminated on that date without causing the trust to terminate; or (iii) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the trust terminated on that date. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonably definite standard: means a clearly measurable standard under which a holder of a power of distribution is legally accountable within the meaning of § 674(b)(5)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any applicable regulations. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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 Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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.
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Second trust: means (i) a first trust after modification, including a restatement of the first trust, under the Uniform Trust Decanting Act (§ Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Second-trust instrument: means the trust instrument for a second trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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.
• Settlor: except as otherwise provided in § Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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 Virginia Code 64.2-701
• 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 Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July one, nineteen hundred seventy-one, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Trust instrument: means a record executed by the settlor to create a trust or by any person to create a second trust that contains some or all of the terms of the trust, including any amendments. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.