Terms Used In Washington Code > Chapter 11.48 - Personal representatives -- General provisions -- Actions by and against

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Executor: means a personal representative of the estate of a decedent appointed by will and the term may be used in lieu of "personal representative" wherever required by context. See Washington Code 11.02.005
• 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.
• Issue: means all the lineal descendants of an individual. See Washington Code 11.02.005
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
• Personal representative: includes executor, administrator, special administrator, and conservator or limited conservator and special representative. See Washington Code 11.02.005
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real estate: includes , except as otherwise specifically provided herein, all lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and all rights thereto, and all interest therein possessed and claimed in fee simple, or for the life of a third person. See Washington Code 11.02.005
• 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.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.