Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 64.2 > Subtitle V - Provisions Applicable to Probate and Nonprobate Transfers

• Abandoned manufactured home: means a manufactured home occupying a manufactured home lot pursuant to a written agreement under which (i) the tenant has defaulted in rent or (ii) the landlord has the right to terminate the written rental agreement pursuant to § Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Abducted child: means a child (i) whose whereabouts are unknown, (ii) who is believed to have been abducted, (iii) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age, and (iv) whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• ABLE savings trust account: means an account established pursuant to this chapter to assist individuals and families to save private funds to support individuals with disabilities to maintain health, independence, and quality of life, with such account used to apply distributions for qualified disability expenses for an eligible individual, as both such terms are defined in § 529A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or other applicable federal law. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Abolished system: means the Virginia Retirement Act, §§ 51-30 through 51-111, repealed by Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly of 1952. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Accident: means an accident covered under the group insurance coverage purchased by the Board. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Accident and sickness insurance: means insurance against loss resulting from sickness, or from bodily injury or death by accident or accidental means, or from a combination of any or all of these perils. See Virginia Code 38.2-109
• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the member's contribution account, all amounts the member may contribute to purchase creditable service, all member contributions contributed by the employer on behalf of the employee, on or after July 1, 1980, except those amounts contributed on behalf of members of the General Assembly who are otherwise retired under the provisions of this chapter, and all interest accruing to these funds. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of actuarial tables adopted by the Board. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Adequate confinement: means that, while on the property of its owner and not under the direct supervision and control of the owner or custodian, a hybrid canine shall be confined in a humane manner in a securely enclosed and locked structure of sufficient height and design to: (i) prevent the animal's escape; or if the hybrid canine is determined to be a dangerous dog pursuant to § Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adoption: means the transfer of ownership of a dog or a cat, or any other companion animal, from a releasing agency to an individual. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• advisory board: means the board appointed by the commission in accordance with § Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• 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.
• Agricultural animals: means all livestock and poultry. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Agricultural land: means real estate in the Commonwealth used or zoned in a manner that would permit the use of the real estate for an agricultural operation. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Agricultural operation: means any operation devoted to the bona fide production of crops, animals, or fowl, including the production of fruits and vegetables of any kind; meat, dairy, and poultry products; nuts, tobacco, nursery, and floral products; and the production and harvest of products from silvicultural activity. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Alternative test method: includes computational toxicology and bioinformatics, high-throughput screening methods, testing of categories of chemical substances, tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems biology and new or revised methods. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• Amber Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared abducted, and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Amber Alert: means the notice of child abduction provided to the public by the media or other methods under an Amber Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• 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.
• Animal: means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Animal: means any live vertebrate nonhuman animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• Animal control officer: means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Animal test method: means a process or procedure that uses animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a chemical or agent or the biological effect of exposure to a chemical or agent under specified conditions. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• Animal testing facility: means any facility, including a private entity, state agency, or institution of higher education, that confines and uses dogs or cats for research, education, testing, or other scientific or medical purposes. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• Annuities: means all agreements to make periodic payments in specified or calculable sums pursuant to the terms of a contract for a stated period of time or for the life of the person or persons specified in the contract. See Virginia Code 38.2-106
• 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.
• Appointee: means a person to which a powerholder makes an appointment of appointive property. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Appointing authority: means the General Assembly or the Governor. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Appointive property: means the property or property interest subject to a power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• 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.
• Associate-degree-granting: means that an associate degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education: includes Richard Bland College and each comprehensive community college. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Association: means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney: means the person designated and authorized by subscribers as the attorney-in-fact having authority to obligate them on reciprocal insurance contracts. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• 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.
• Authority: means the respective political subdivisions of the Commonwealth created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Average final compensation: means the average annual creditable compensation of a member during his 60 highest consecutive months of creditable service or during the entire period of his creditable service if less than 60 months. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Baccalaureate: means that bachelor's degrees or more advanced degrees, or both, are granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate public institution of higher education: includes Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Longwood University, the University of Mary Washington, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia's College at Wise as a division of the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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.
• 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}
• beneficiary: means (i) a resident of the Commonwealth, as determined by the board, who is the beneficiary of a prepaid tuition contract and who may apply advance tuition payments to tuition as set forth in this chapter; (ii) a beneficiary of a prepaid tuition contract purchased by a resident of the Commonwealth, as determined by the board, who may apply advance tuition payments to tuition as set forth in this chapter; or (iii) a beneficiary of a savings trust account established pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Beneficiary: means any person entitled to receive benefits under this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Blanket-exercise clause: includes a clause that:

  1. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700

• Board: means the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Board: means the governing board of the Plan. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Board: means the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Board: means the Virginia Board of Workforce Development. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Board: means the respective boards of directors for the authorities created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Board of supervisors: means the governing body of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Boarding establishment: means a place or establishment other than a public or private animal shelter where companion animals not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in exchange for a fee. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Bond with surety: includes the payment in cash of the full amount of the required bond and, in such case, no surety shall be required. See Virginia Code 1-205
• Bureau of Insurance: means the division of the Commission established to administer the insurance laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• business of insurance: include solicitation, negotiations preliminary to execution, execution of an insurance contract, and the transaction of matters subsequent to execution of the contract and arising out of it. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• care: means the responsible practice of good animal husbandry, handling, production, management, confinement, feeding, watering, protection, shelter, transportation, treatment, and, when necessary, euthanasia, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of the animal and the provision of veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering or impairment of health. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• classification: means the plan, system, or arrangement for grouping risks with similar characteristics or a specified class of risk by recognizing differences in exposure to hazards. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Closing disclosure: means the combined mortgage loan disclosure statement of final loan terms and closing costs prescribed under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA)(Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Codi Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared missing or endangered and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Codi Alert: means the notice of a missing or endangered child provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Codi Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• College savings trust account: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 51.1-500
• College savings trust account: means an account established pursuant to this chapter to assist individuals and families to enhance the accessibility and affordability of higher education, with such account used to apply distributions from the account toward qualified higher education expenses, as that term is defined in § 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or other applicable federal law. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Commercial real estate: means any real estate other than (i) real estate containing one to four residential units or (ii) real estate classified for assessment purposes under the provisions of Article 4 (§ Virginia Code 55.1-1100
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Commission: means the governing body of the local district. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Commissioner of Insurance: means the administrative or executive officer of the Bureau. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Common disaster: A sudden and extraordinary misfortune that brings about the simultaneous or near-simultaneous deaths of two or more associated persons, such as husband and wife.
• 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.
• Companion animal: means any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Company: means insurance company. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Company: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Competency-based: means awarded on the basis of demonstrated knowledge and skills rather than completion of instructional hours or participation in an instructional course or program. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive community college: means an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education governed by the State Board that offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:

  1. See Virginia Code 23.1-100

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contributor: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Contributor: means a person who contributes money to a savings trust account established pursuant to this chapter on behalf of a qualified beneficiary and who is listed as the owner of the savings trust account. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• 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.
• Cost: means all or any part of the cost of acquisition, construction, reconstruction, alteration, landscaping, or enlargement of a public mass transit system or highway that is located in counties that are authorized by this chapter to create a transportation improvement district, including the cost of the acquisition of land, rights-of-way, property rights, easements and interests acquired for such construction, alteration or expansion, the cost of demolishing or removing any structure on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such structures may be removed, the cost of all labor, materials, machinery and equipment, financing charges, insurance, interest on all bonds prior to and during construction and, if deemed advisable by the commission, for a reasonable period after completion of such construction, reserves for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements, provisions for working capital, the cost of surveys, engineering and architectural expenses, borings, plans and specifications and other engineering and architectural services, legal expenses, studies, estimates of costs and revenues, administrative expenses, and such other expenses as may be necessary, or incident to, the construction of the project or, solely as to districts created pursuant to this chapter after July 1, 1990, the creation of the district (the costs of which creation shall not exceed $150,000), and of such subsequent additions thereto or expansion thereof, and to determining the feasibility or practicability of such construction, the cost of financing such construction, additions, or expansion and placing the project and such additions or expansion in operation. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Council: means the governing body of a city or town. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• County: means Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Court: means any court vested with appropriate jurisdiction under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Creditable compensation: means the full compensation payable annually to an employee working full time in his covered position. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as further defined in and modified by § Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Creditable service: means prior service as set forth in § Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Critically missing adult: means an adult, including an adult who has a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or mental illness as those terms are defined in § Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically missing adult alert: means the notice of a critically missing adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby an adult will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Critically Missing Adult Alert Program: means the procedures and Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a critically missing adult. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Date of the alleged entitlement: means the first official day of class within the term, semester, or quarter of the program of study in which a student is enrolled. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Dealer: means any person who in the regular course of business for compensation or profit buys, sells, transfers, exchanges, or barters companion animals. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Decedent: means any person whose life has been taken as a result of murder or voluntary manslaughter. See Virginia Code 64.2-2500
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent child: means (i) the insured employee's unmarried natural or legally adopted children who are not self-supporting; (ii) the insured employee's unmarried stepchildren living full time with the insured employee in a parent-child relationship and who can be claimed as a dependent on the insured employee's federal income tax return; (iii) any other children if they are in the insured employee's court-ordered custody; or (iv) other dependent children of the employee's family who are eligible for coverage under the family membership program offered under policies and procedures of the Department of Human Resource Management governing health insurance plans administered pursuant to § Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Dependent student: includes unemancipated minors. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Direct and immediate threat: means any clear and imminent danger to an animal's health, safety or life. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Disbursement of loan funds: means the delivery of the loan funds by the lender to the settlement agent in one or more of the following forms:

  1. See Virginia Code 55.1-900

• Disbursement of settlement proceeds: means the payment of all proceeds of the transaction by the settlement agent to the persons entitled to such proceeds. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Disclaimant: means the person to whom a disclaimed interest or power would have passed had the disclaimer not been made. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Disclaimed interest: means the interest that would have passed to the disclaimant had the disclaimer not been made. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Disclaimer: means the refusal to accept an interest in or power over property. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismemberment: means a dismemberment covered under the group insurance coverage purchased by the Board. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Domicile: means the present, fixed home of an individual to which he returns following temporary absences and at which he intends to stay indefinitely. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Domiciliary intent: means present intent to remain indefinitely. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Donor: means a person that creates a power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Dual enrollment: means the enrollment of a qualified high school student in a postsecondary course that is creditable toward high school completion and a career certificate or an associate or baccalaureate degree at a public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• elementary or secondary: include elementary, middle, and high school grades. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Eligible institution: means a baccalaureate public institution of higher education or baccalaureate nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide undergraduate collegiate education and not to provide religious training or theological education. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Eligible institution: means a comprehensive community college, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, New College Institute, Richard Bland College, Roanoke Higher Education Center, Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, or Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Eligible institution: means a nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or professional education and not to provide religious training or theological education. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Eligible student: means any Virginia student enrolled at an eligible institution who is domiciled in the Commonwealth as provided in § Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Emergency veterinary treatment: means veterinary treatment to stabilize a life-threatening condition, alleviate suffering, prevent further disease transmission, or prevent further disease progression. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Employed full time: means employed in a position resulting in at least an annual earned income reported for tax purposes equivalent to 50 work weeks of 40 hours at minimum wage. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Employee: means a state police officer. See Virginia Code 51.1-201
• Employee: means any (i) member of the Capitol Police Force as described in § Virginia Code 51.1-212
• Employee: means any teacher, state employee, officer, or employee of a locality participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Employer: means the Commonwealth in the case of a state employee, the local public school board in the case of a teacher, or the political subdivision participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Escrow: means written instruments, money, or other items deposited by a party with a settlement agent for delivery to other persons upon the performance of specified conditions or the happening of a certain event. See Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Euthanasia: means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness, and death during such loss of consciousness. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Experience rating: means a statistical procedure utilizing past risk experience to produce a prospective premium credit, debit, or unity modification. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Facility: means a building or portion thereof as designated by the State Veterinarian, other than a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, that is used to contain a primary enclosure or enclosures in which animals are housed or kept. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Federal agency: means and includes the United States of America or any department, bureau, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Felonious assault: means a physical assault (i) by another person resulting in bodily harm to an insured employee; (ii) that takes place while such employee is performing his customary duties at the employer's normal place of business or at other places the employer's business requires him to travel; (iii) that involves the use of force or violence with the intent to cause harm; and (iv) that is a felony or misdemeanor under applicable law. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary: means a personal representative, trustee, agent acting under a power of attorney, or other person authorized to act as a fiduciary with respect to the property of another person. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Fiduciary: includes a guardian, committee, trustee, executor, conservator, or personal representative. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• 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.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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 adversary: means any foreign government or nongovernment person determined by the U. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fund: means a student loan fund. See Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Fund: means the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• General power of appointment: means a power of appointment exercisable in favor of the powerholder, the powerholder's estate, a creditor of the powerholder, or a creditor of the powerholder's estate. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Gift-in-default clause: means a clause in the instrument creating the power identifying a taker in default of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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
• Governing instrument: means a deed, will, trust, insurance or annuity policy, account with POD designation, security registered in beneficiary form (TOD), or pension, profit-sharing, retirement, or similar benefit plan; instrument creating or exercising a power of appointment or a power of attorney; or a donative, appointive, or nominative instrument of any other type. See Virginia Code 64.2-2200
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grant: means the amount of financial assistance awarded under this article whether disbursed by warrant directly to an eligible institution or directly to a Virginia student. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Grant: means a New Economy Workforce Credential Grant. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Grant: means a Tuition Assistance Grant. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Groomer: means any person who, for a fee, cleans, trims, brushes, makes neat, manicures, or treats for external parasites any animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Guest or invitee: means a person, other than the tenant, who has the permission of the tenant to visit but not to occupy the premises. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Health services plan: means any arrangement for offering or administering health services or similar or related services by a corporation licensed under Virginia Code 38.2-100
• High-demand field: means a discipline or field in which there is a shortage of skilled workers to fill current job vacancies or anticipated additional job openings. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Humane: means any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animal's health and well-being. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Humane investigator: means a person who has been appointed by a circuit court as a humane investigator as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Hybrid canine: means any animal that is or can be demonstrated to be a hybrid of the domestic dog and any other species of the Canidae family; that at any time has been permitted, registered, licensed, or advertised as such; or that at any time has been described, represented, or reported as such by its owner to a licensed veterinarian, law-enforcement officer, animal control officer, humane investigator, official of the Department of Health, or State Veterinarian's representative. See Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• Immediate family member: means the insured employee's spouse, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and their spouses. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Impermissible appointee: means a person that is not a permissible appointee. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• incorporated towns: as used in this article means only those incorporated towns which have held municipal elections in the ten years preceding the date of the filing of a petition for a referendum pursuant to § Virginia Code 15.2-3520
• 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}
• Independent student: includes emancipated minors. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Industry-recognized: means demonstrating competency or proficiency in the technical and occupational skills identified as necessary for performing functions of an occupation based on standards developed or endorsed by employers and industry organizations. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Institution: means a public institution of higher education that has established a student loan fund from appropriations from the general fund of the state treasury for fellowships, scholarships, and loans. See Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Instrument: means a record. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Insurance company: means any company engaged in the business of making contracts of insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Insurance fraud: means any commission or attempted commission of the criminal acts and practices defined in § Virginia Code 52-36
• insurance policies: shall include contracts of fidelity, indemnity, guaranty and suretyship. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Insurance policy: means a contract or other written instrument between an insured and insurer setting forth the obligations and responsibilities of each party. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurance professional: means adjusters, agents, managing general agents, surplus lines brokers, reinsurance intermediaries, insurance consultants, brokers, and attorneys-in-fact. See Virginia Code 52-36
• insurance program: means the plan covered under the policy purchased by the Board which provides group life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance coverage for employees. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Insured: means any person covered by an insurance policy. See Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurer: means any person subject to regulation pursuant to Virginia Code 52-36
• Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interest in agricultural land: means any right, title, or interest, direct or indirect, in and to (i) agricultural land or (ii) any entity or other organization that holds any right, title, or interest, direct or indirect, in and to agricultural land. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• 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}
• 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.
• Jointly held property: means property held in the name of two or more persons under an arrangement in which all holders have concurrent interests and under which the last surviving holder is entitled to the whole of the property and includes, without limitation, property held as tenants by the entirety. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Judge: means any judge, associate judge or substitute judge of any court or any magistrate. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• Judge: means any justice or judge of a court of record of the Commonwealth, any member of the State Corporation Commission or Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, any judge of a district court of the Commonwealth other than a substitute judge of such district court, and any executive secretary of the Supreme Court assuming such position between December 1, 1975, and January 31, 1976. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Land: is a three-dimensional concept and includes parcels with upper or lower boundaries, or both upper and lower boundaries, as well as parcels extending ab solo usque ad coelum. See Virginia Code 55.1-1500
• Landlord: means the manufactured home park owner or the lessor or sublessor of a manufactured home park. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• landowner: means the person or entity that has the usufruct, control, or occupation of the taxable real property as determined by the commissioner of the revenue of the jurisdiction in which the subject real property is located pursuant to § Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Law-enforcement agency: means a law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the search for a suspect in a case involving the death or serious injury of a law-enforcement officer or an agency employing a law-enforcement officer who is missing in the line of duty. See Virginia Code 52-34.7
• Law-enforcement officer: means any full-time or part-time employee of the Department of State Police or a police department or sheriff's office that is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and any campus police officer appointed under Article 3 (§ Virginia Code 52-34.7
• Law-enforcement officer: means any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lay real estate settlement agent: means a person who (i) is not licensed as an attorney under Chapter 39 of Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• 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.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Lender: means any person regularly engaged in making loans secured by mortgages or deeds of trust on real estate. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensing authority: means the (i) Commission acting pursuant to this chapter, Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Life insurance: includes policies that also provide (i) endowment benefits; (ii) additional benefits incidental to a loss in the event of death, dismemberment, or loss by accident or accidental means; (iii) additional benefits to safeguard the contract from lapse or to provide a special surrender value, a special benefit or an annuity, in the event of total and permanent disability of the insured; and (iv) optional modes of settlement of proceeds. See Virginia Code 38.2-102
• Livestock: includes all domestic or domesticated: bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Loan closing: means the time agreed upon by the borrower and lender, when the execution of the loan documents by the borrower occurs. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Loan documents: means the note evidencing the debt due the lender, the deed of trust, or the mortgage securing the debt due the lender and any other documents required by the lender to be executed by the borrower as a part of the transaction. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Loan funds: means the gross or net proceeds of the loan to be disbursed by the lender at loan closing. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• local district: means any transportation improvement district created under the provisions of § Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• local governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, responsible for appropriating funds for such locality, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Local officer: means the treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, or sheriff of any county or city, or deputy or employee of any such officer. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Manufactured home: means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, that in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and that is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Manufactured home lot: means a parcel of land within the boundaries of a manufactured home park provided for the placement of a single manufactured home and the exclusive use of its occupants. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Manufactured home park: means a parcel of land under single or common ownership upon which five or more manufactured homes are located on a continual, nonrecreational basis together with any structure, equipment, road, or facility intended for use incidental to the occupancy of the manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Manufactured home park operator: means a person employed or contracted by a manufactured home park owner or landlord to manage a manufactured home park. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Manufactured home park owner: means a person who owns land that accommodates a manufactured home park. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Manufacturer: means any partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity that produces chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• 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.
• Market segment: means any line or class of insurance or, if it is described in general terms, any subdivision of insurance or any class of risks or combination of classes. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Medical Board: means the boards composed of physicians or other health care professionals as provided by this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Medicare: means the "Health Insurance for the Aged Act" Title XVIII of the Social Security Amendment of 1965, as amended. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system as provided in this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-201
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the Retirement System as provided in this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-212
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Membership service: means service as an employee rendered while a contributing member of the Retirement System except as provided in this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Missing child: means any person who is under the age of 21 years, whose temporary or permanent residence is in Virginia, or is believed to be in Virginia, whose whereabouts are unknown to any parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis of the child, and who has been reported as missing to a law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing child report: means a report prepared in a format prescribed by the Superintendent for use by law-enforcement agencies to report missing child information to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing or endangered child: means a child (i) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age; (ii) whose whereabouts are unknown; and (iii) whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Missing person with autism: means any person (i) whose whereabouts are unknown; (ii) who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as defined in § Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing Person with Autism Alert: means the notice of a missing person with autism provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a person with autism will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Missing senior adult: means an adult whose whereabouts are unknown and who is over 60 years of age and suffers a cognitive impairment to the extent that he is unable to provide care to himself without assistance from a caregiver, including a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease or dementia, and whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by a law-enforcement agency to the health and safety of the adult and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• New owner: means an individual who is legally competent to enter into a binding agreement pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Noncredit workforce credential: means a competency-based, industry-recognized, portable, and third-party-validated certification or occupational license in a high-demand field. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Noncredit workforce training program: means a program at an eligible institution that leads to an occupation or a cluster of occupations in a high-demand field, which program may include the attainment of a noncredit workforce credential. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Nongeneral power of appointment: means a power of appointment that is not a general power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Normal retirement date: means a member's sixtieth birthday. See Virginia Code 51.1-201
• Normal retirement date: means a member's sixtieth birthday. See Virginia Code 51.1-212
• Normal retirement date: means a member's sixty-fifth birthday. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Normal retirement date: means a member's sixty-fifth birthday. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
• Notification: means a statement acknowledging that the purchaser has been advised of any disclosures required by this chapter on the Real Estate Board's website or delivery of any such disclosures to the purchaser. See Virginia Code 55.1-700
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• 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.
• Obligee: means any person or entity to whom a residential ground rent is owed. See Virginia Code 55.1-1500
• Obligor: means one or more individuals who are obligated to pay a residential ground rent. See Virginia Code 55.1-1500
• Ordinance: means any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of any locality. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Other officer: includes all other persons employed or elected by the people of Virginia, or by any locality, whose duty it is to preserve the peace, to make arrests, or to enforce the law. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: includes a mortgagee in possession. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Owner: means any person who: (i) has a right of property in an animal; (ii) keeps or harbors an animal; (iii) has an animal in his care; or (iv) acts as a custodian of an animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• 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.
• Party to the real estate transaction: means , with respect to that real estate transaction, a lender, seller, purchaser, or borrower and, with respect to a corporate purchaser, any entity that is a subsidiary of or under common ownership with that corporate purchaser. See Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Payor: means a trustee, insurer, business entity, employer, government, governmental agency, subdivision, or instrumentality, or any other person authorized or obligated by law or a governing instrument to make payments. See Virginia Code 64.2-2200
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• Permissible appointee: means a person in whose favor a powerholder may exercise a power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Person: means an individual; estate; trust; business or nonprofit entity; public corporation; government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or other legal entity. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Person under disability: includes a person less than 18 years of age. See Virginia Code 1-232
• 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
• Personal representative: includes the executor of 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 1-234
• Pet shop: means a retail establishment where companion animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan: means the Commonwealth Savers Plan. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Political subdivision: means any county, city, or town, any political entity, subdivision, branch, or unit of the Commonwealth, or any commission, public authority, or body corporate created by or under an act of the General Assembly specifying the powers, privileges, or authority capable of exercise by the commission, public authority, or body corporate. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Portable: means recognized by multiple employers or educational institutions and, where appropriate, across geographic areas. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Poultry: includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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 64.2-2700
• 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}
• Powerholder: means a person in which a donor creates a power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• 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.
• Prepaid tuition contract: means the contract or account entered into by the board and a purchaser pursuant to this chapter for the advance payment of tuition at a fixed, guaranteed level for a qualified beneficiary to attend any public institution of higher education to which the qualified beneficiary is admitted. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Previous systems: means the systems established under the provisions of Chapters 2 (§ 51-3 et seq. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Principal broker: means the same as that term is defined in regulations promulgated by the Real Estate Board. See Virginia Code 55.1-1100
• Principal place of business: means the single state in which the natural persons who establish policy for the direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the institution as a whole primarily exercise that function, considering the following factors: (i) the state in which the primary executive and administrative offices of the institution are located; (ii) the state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer of the institution is located; (iii) the state in which the board of trustees or similar governing board of the institution conducts a majority of its meetings; and (iv) the state from which the overall operations of the institution are directed. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to becoming a member of the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Professional employer services: means services provided to a client company pursuant to a written agreement with a professional employer organization, including, at a minimum, the payment of wages of the coemployees, the reservation of the right of direction and control over the coemployees, and the responsibility for the withholding and payment of payroll taxes of the coemployees. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Program: means the procedures and Amber Agreements to aid in the identification and location of abducted children. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Program: means the procedures and Codi Agreements to aid in the identification and location of missing or endangered children. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Program: means the procedures and Senior Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing senior adult. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Program: means the procedures and Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing person with autism. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
• Program: means the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-622
• Program: means the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Program: means the Tuition Assistance Grant Program. See Virginia Code 23.1-628
• Property: includes any real and personal property and any right or interest therein. See Virginia Code 64.2-2500
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Prospective loss costs: means historical aggregate losses and loss adjustment expenses projected through development to their ultimate value and through trending to a future point in time. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Public corporation: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any political subdivision thereof or any incorporated municipality therein or any public agency of the Commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof or of any municipality therein. See Virginia Code 1-219.1
• Public facilities: means (i) airports, landing fields, and air navigation facilities; (ii) educational facilities; (iii) flood control, bank and shore protection, watershed protection, and dams; (iv) hospital facilities; (v) judicial and court facilities; (vi) correctional facilities, including jails and penitentiaries; (vii) library facilities; (viii) military installations; (ix) parks so designated by the Commonwealth or by the locality in its comprehensive plan; (x) properties of historical significance so designated by the Commonwealth; (xi) law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and rescue facilities; (xii) sanitary sewer, water or stormwater facilities; (xiii) transportation facilities including highways, roads, streets, and bridges, traffic signals, related easements and rights-of-way, mass transit, ports, and any components of federal, state, or local transportation facilities; (xiv) waste management facilities for hazardous, radioactive, or other waste; (xv) office facilities occupied by a public corporation; and (xvi) such other facilities that are necessary to the construction, maintenance, or operation of a public facility as listed in clauses (i) through (xv) and directly related thereto. See Virginia Code 1-219.1
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Purchaser: means a person who makes or is obligated to make advance payments in accordance with a prepaid tuition contract and who is listed as the owner of the prepaid tuition contract. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Qualifying child: means a dependent child less than eighteen years of age, or if eighteen years of age or older a dependent child enrolled in high school. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rate service organization: means any entity, including its affiliates or subsidiaries, which either has two or more member insurers or is controlled either directly or indirectly by two or more insurers, other than a joint underwriting association under § Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Rate service organization: means any organization or person, other than a joint underwriting association under § Virginia Code 38.2-100
• rates: means any rate of premium, policy fee, membership fee or any other charge made by an insurer for or in connection with a contract or policy of insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Ratification: means the full execution of a real estate purchase contract by all parties. See Virginia Code 55.1-700
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Real estate contract: means a contract for the sale, exchange, or lease with the option to buy of residential real estate subject to this chapter. See Virginia Code 55.1-700
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act: Federal law that, among other things, requires lenders to provide "good faith" estimates of settlement costs and make other disclosures regarding the mortgage loan. RESPA also limits the amount of funds held in escrow for real estate taxes and insurance. ^{Source: OCC}
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable charges in addition to rent: means any routine maintenance and utility charges for which the tenant is liable under the rental agreement. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Reciprocal: means the aggregation of subscribers under a common name. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• 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 64.2-2700
• Releasing agency: means (i) a public animal shelter or (ii) a private animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other similar entity or home-based rescue that releases companion animals for adoption. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• 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.
• Rent: means payments made by the tenant to the landlord for use of a manufactured home lot and other facilities or services provided by the landlord. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Rental agreement: means any agreement, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted in conformance with § Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Residential ground rent: means a rent or charge paid for the use of land, whether or not title to such land is transferred to the user, or a lease of land, for personal residential purposes, (i) which is assignable by the obligor without the obligee's consent; (ii) which is for a term in excess of 15 years, including any rights of renewal at the option of the obligor; (iii) where the obligor has a present or future right to terminate such ground rent and to acquire the entire interest of the obligee in the land by the payment of a determined or determinable amount; and (iv) where the obligee's interest in the land is primarily a security interest to protect his right to be paid the rent or charge. See Virginia Code 55.1-1500
• Responsible ownership: means the ownership and humane care of a hybrid canine in such a manner as to comply with all laws and ordinances regarding hybrid canines and prevent endangerment by the animal to public health and safety. See Virginia Code 3.2-6581
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirement allowance: means the retirement payments to which a member is entitled. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Retirement system: means the State Police Officers' Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-201
• Retirement System: means the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-212
• Retirement system: means the Judicial Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Retirement System: means the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Retirement System: means the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Retrospective rating plan: means a rating plan that adjusts the premium for the insurance to which it applies on the basis of losses incurred during the period covered by that insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Revenues: means any or all fees, tolls, taxes, rents, notes, receipts, assessments, moneys, and income derived by the local district and includes any cash contributions or payments made to the local district by the Commonwealth or any agency, department, or political subdivision thereof or by any other source. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). ^{Source: OCC}
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Safety restraint system: means a properly installed seatbelt, lap and shoulder restraint or other restraint approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or any successor governmental agency. See Virginia Code 51.1-500
• Savings trust account: means an ABLE savings trust account or a college savings trust account. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Savings trust agreement: means the agreement entered into by the board and a contributor that establishes a savings trust account. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Secured party: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Security interest: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Senior alert: means the notice of a missing senior adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Senior Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• Senior Alert Agreement: means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a senior adult will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.4
• senior citizen: means any individual who, before the beginning of any academic term, semester, or quarter in which he claims entitlement to the benefits of this article, has reached the age of 60 and has been legally domiciled in the Commonwealth for at least one year. See Virginia Code 23.1-639
• Service: means service as a judge. See Virginia Code 51.1-301
• Service: means service as an employee. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• 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.
• Settlement: means the time when the settlement agent has received the duly executed deed, loan funds, loan documents, and other documents and funds required to carry out the terms of the contract between the parties and the settlement agent reasonably determines that prerecordation conditions of such contracts have been satisfied. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Settlement agent: means the person responsible for conducting the settlement and disbursement of the settlement proceeds and includes any individual, corporation, partnership, or other entity conducting the settlement and disbursement of loan proceeds. See Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Settlement agent: means a person, other than a party to the real estate transaction, that provides escrow, closing, or settlement services in connection with a transaction related to real estate in the Commonwealth and that is listed as the settlement agent on the settlement statement or closing disclosure for such transaction. See Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Settlement service provider: means any person providing settlement services, as that term is defined under the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Virginia Code 55.1-900
• Settlement statement: means the statement of receipts and disbursements for a transaction related to real estate, including a statement prescribed under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA)(Virginia Code 55.1-1000
• Slayer: means any person (i) who is convicted of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of the decedent or, (ii) in the absence of such conviction, who is determined, whether before or after his death, by a court of appropriate jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence to have committed one of the offenses listed in clause (i) resulting in the death of the decedent. See Virginia Code 64.2-2500
• Sore: means , when referring to an equine, that an irritating or blistering agent has been applied, internally or externally, by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any burn, cut, or laceration that has been inflicted by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any tack, nail, screw, or chemical agent that has been injected by a person into or used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; any other substance or device that has been used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; or a person has engaged in a practice involving an equine, and as a result of such application, infliction, injection, use, or practice, such equine suffers, or can reasonably be expected to suffer, physical pain or distress, inflammation, or lameness when walking, trotting, or otherwise moving, except that such term does not include such an application, infliction, injection, use, or practice in connection with the therapeutic treatment of an equine by or under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Specific-exercise clause: means a clause in an instrument which specifically refers to and exercises a particular power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• 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 64.2-2600
• state: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any of its agencies or departments. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• State Board: means the Board of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• State Board: means the State Board for Community Colleges. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• State employee: means any person who is regularly employed full time on a salaried basis, whose tenure is not restricted as to temporary or provisional appointment, in the service of, and whose compensation is payable, no more often than biweekly, in whole or in part, by the Commonwealth or any department, institution, or agency thereof. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Statistical plan: means the plan, system, or arrangement used in collecting data for rate making or other purposes. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• sterilization: means a surgical or chemical procedure performed by a licensed veterinarian that renders a dog or cat permanently incapable of reproducing. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Student: means a medical student, dental student, intern, resident, or undergraduate student who is entitled to reduced rate tuition charges pursuant to Chapter 5 (§ Virginia Code 23.1-617
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Subscriber: means a person obligated under a reciprocal insurance agreement. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• Substantial financial support: means any amount of financial support received by a student that qualifies him to be listed as a dependent on federal and state income tax returns. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Supervisor: means a member of the board of supervisors of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Supplementary rate information: includes any manual or plan of rates, experience rating plan, statistical plan, classification, rating schedule, minimum premium, or minimum premium rule, policy fee, rating rule, rate-related underwriting rule, and any other information not otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter required by the Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Supporting data: includes :

  1. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901

• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• Surviving spouse: means the spouse of a military service member who, while serving as an active duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States, Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States, or Virginia National Guard, during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, or as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict, was killed in action, became missing in action, or became a prisoner of war. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Taker in default of appointment: means a person that takes all or part of the appointive property to the extent that the powerholder does not effectively exercise the power of appointment. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Teacher: means any person who is regularly employed full time on a salaried basis as a professional or clerical employee of a county, city, or other local public school board. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Tenant: means a person entitled as under a rental agreement to occupy a manufactured home lot to the exclusion of others. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
• Terms of the instrument: means the manifestation of the intent of the maker of the instrument regarding the instrument's provisions as expressed in the instrument or as may be established by other evidence that would be admissible in a legal proceeding. See Virginia Code 64.2-2700
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Third-party-validated: means having an external process in place for determining validity and relevance in the workplace and for continuous alignment of demonstrated knowledge and skills with industry workforce needs. See Virginia Code 23.1-627.1
• Tier-city: means an incorporated community within a consolidated county that (i) has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more, (ii) has been designated as a tier-city by the General Assembly, and (iii) has both the powers of a town and such additional powers as may be granted tier-cities by the General Assembly. See Virginia Code 1-252
• 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: 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
• Town: means any town having a population of more than 1,000. See Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, 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 1-254
• 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.
• Transportation improvements: means any and all real or personal property utilized in constructing and improving (i) any mass transportation project and (ii) any primary highway or portion thereof, located within any district created pursuant to § Virginia Code 15.2-4602
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• True bill: Another word for indictment.
• Trust: means (i) an express trust, charitable or noncharitable, with additions thereto, whenever and however created; and (ii) a trust created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree, that requires the trust to be administered in the manner of an express trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-2600
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Trustee: means a trustee under a probated will or an inter vivos trust instrument. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on ^{Source: OCC}
• Tuition: means the quarter, semester, or term charges imposed for undergraduate tuition by any public institution of higher education and all mandatory fees required as a condition of enrollment of all students. See Virginia Code 23.1-700
• Unemancipated minor: means a minor student who has not been emancipated pursuant to Article 15 (§ Virginia Code 23.1-500
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Validation body: means an organization that seeks to facilitate development, validation, and regulatory acceptance of new and revised regulatory test methods that reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals in testing, such as the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods or other similar organizations. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veteran: means an individual who has served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Veterinary treatment: means treatment by or on the order of a duly licensed veterinarian. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Virginia student: means any student who has established domicile in the Commonwealth pursuant to § Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Voter: means a qualified voter as defined in § Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Weaned: means that an animal is capable of and physiologically accustomed to ingestion of solid food or food customary for the adult of the species and has ingested such food, without nursing, for a period of at least five days. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.