Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 37 > Article 1 - Lands of Infants, Insane Persons, or Convicts, and Lands Held in Trust

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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}
• Convict: means a person confined in a penitentiary or correctional facility of this or any other state, or of the United States. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• 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.
• Dower: A widow
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• lease: as used in this article shall include any mining or timber lease or any lease of any profit in land, and the word "sale" shall include the sale of any undivided interest, or any part of the corpus of land, or anything in or growing upon land. See West Virginia Code 37-1-2
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• sale: shall include the sale of any undivided interest, or any part of the corpus of land, or anything in or growing upon land. See West Virginia Code 37-1-2
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.