Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 7B > Article 11 - Termination of Parental Rights

• 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.
• Affiliate: means a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another person. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Agreement: means a written or oral contract or agreement between a dealer and a wholesaler, manufacturer, or distributor by which the dealer is granted one or more of the following rights:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Allocable share: means Allocable Share as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• attempted telephone solicitation: means any telephonic communication designed to persuade any person to purchase goods or services, to enter a contest, or to contribute to a charity or a person represented to be a charity, regardless of whether the telephone call initiating the solicitation is placed by the (i) telephonic seller or (ii) a person responding to any unsolicited notice or notices sent or provided by or on behalf of the seller, which notice or notices represent to the recipient that he or she has won a gift or prize, that the recipient may obtain or qualify for credit by contacting the seller, or that the seller has buyers interested in purchasing the recipient's property. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• 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.
• Business day: means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• cigarette: includes "roll-your-own" (i. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means any individual who is solicited to purchase or who purchases the services of a credit repair business. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-221
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contract for invention development services: means a contract by which an invention developer undertakes invention development services for a customer for a stated payment or consideration, whether or not the payment or consideration has yet been made. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209
• 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.
• Credit repair business: means any person who, with respect to the extension of credit by others, sells, provides, or performs, or represents that such person can or will sell, provide, or perform any of the following services in return for the payment of money or other valuable consideration:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-221

• 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}
• Current net price: means the price listed in the supplier's price list or catalog in effect at the time the agreement is terminated, less any applicable discounts allowed. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• Customer: means any natural person who is solicited by, inquires about, seeks the services of, or enters into a contract with an invention developer for invention development services. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209
• Damage: means any damage or loss to the rented vehicle, including loss of use and any costs and expenses incident to the damage or loss. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means a person engaged in the business of selling at retail farm, construction, utility or industrial, equipment, implements, machinery, attachments, outdoor power equipment, or repair parts. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Family member: means a spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild, or a lineal descendant of the dealer or principal owner of the dealership. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Gift or prize: means any premium, bonus, award, or any other thing of value. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• Good cause: means failure by a dealer to comply with requirements imposed upon the dealer by the agreement if the requirements are not different from those imposed on other dealers similarly situated in this State. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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}
• Invention: means any discovery, process, machine, design, formulation, composition of matter, product, concept, or idea, or any combination of these. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209
• Invention developer: is a n individual, firm, partnership, or corporation, or an agent, employee, officer, partner, or independent contractor of one of those entities, that offers to perform or performs invention development services for a customer and that is not:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209

• Invention development services: means any act done by or for an invention developer for the procurement or attempted procurement by the invention developer of a licensee or buyer of an intellectual property right in an invention. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-209
• Inventory: means farm implements and machinery, construction, utility and industrial equipment, consumer products, outdoor power equipment, attachments, or repair parts. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• Item: includes coupon books, vouchers, or certificates that are to be used with businesses other than the seller's business. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• 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.
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Master Settlement Agreement: means the settlement agreement (and related documents) entered into on November 23, 1998, by the State and leading United States tobacco product manufacturers. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Misappropriation: means acquisition, disclosure, or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied authority or consent, unless such trade secret was arrived at by independent development, reverse engineering, or was obtained from another person with a right to disclose the trade secret. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-152
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Net cost: means the price the dealer paid the supplier for the inventory, less all applicable discounts allowed, plus the amount the dealer paid for freight costs from the supplier's location to the dealer's location, plus reasonable cost of assembly or disassembly performed by the dealer. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• 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.
• Owner: means a person who owns or controls ten percent (10%) or more of the equity of, or otherwise has a claim to ten percent (10%) or more of the net income of, a telephonic seller. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• 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: includes an individual, aggregation of individuals, corporation, company, association, or partnership. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Person: includes any individual, firm, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, or any other business entity. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• person: means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or any other organization or group of persons. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Person: means an individual, corporation, government, governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, or any other  legal or commercial entity. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-152
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: shall include moneys, goods, chattels, choses in action and evidences of debt, including all things capable of ownership, not descendable to heirs at law. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Prepaid entertainment contract: means any contract in which:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-118

• Principal: means an owner, an executive officer of a corporation, a general partner of a partnership, a sole proprietor of a sole proprietorship, a trustee of a trust, or any other individual with similar supervisory functions with respect to any person. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• prospective purchaser: means a person who is solicited to become obligated to a telephonic seller or to make any donation or gift to any person represented by the telephonic seller. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• Qualified escrow fund: means an escrow arrangement with a federally or State chartered financial institution having no affiliation with any tobacco product manufacturer and having assets of at least one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) where such arrangement requires that such financial institution hold the escrowed funds' principal for the benefit of releasing parties and prohibits the tobacco product manufacturer placing the funds into escrow from using, accessing, or directing the use of the funds' principal except as consistent with N. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Released claims: means Released Claims as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Releasing parties: means Releasing Parties as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Rental agreement: means any written agreement setting forth the terms and the conditions governing the use of a vehicle provided by the rental car company. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Rental car company: means any person in the business of providing vehicles to the public. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Renter: means any person obtaining the use of a vehicle from a rental car company under the terms of a rental agreement. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Room operator: means any principal, employee, or agent responsible for the operational management and supervision of facilities from which telephonic sales calls are made or received. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• Salesperson: means any individual employed, appointed, or authorized by a telephonic seller, whether referred to by the telephonic seller as an agency, representative, or independent contractor, who attempts to solicit or solicits a sale on behalf of the telephonic seller. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of such official seal, made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression made by means of a wafer or of wax affixed thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Secretary: means the Office of the Secretary of State. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• seller: means a person who, directly or through salespersons, causes a telephone solicitation or attempted telephone solicitation to occur. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-260
• 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.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplier: means a wholesaler, manufacturer, distributor, or any purchaser of assets or stock of any surviving corporation resulting from a merger or liquidation, any receiver or assignee, or any trustee of the original manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor who enters into an agreement with a dealer. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-180
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Tobacco Product Manufacturer: means an entity that after the effective date of this Article directly (and not exclusively through any affiliate):

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290

• Trade secret: means business or technical information, including but not limited to a formula, pattern, program, device, compilation of information, method, technique, or process that:

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-152

• 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.
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Units sold: means the number of individual cigarettes sold in the State by the applicable tobacco product manufacturer (whether directly or through a distributor, retailer, or similar intermediary or intermediaries) during the year in question, on which the State has authority under federal law to impose excise or similar taxes or to collect escrow. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-290
• Vehicle: means a motor vehicle of the private passenger type including passenger vans and minivans that are primarily intended for transport of persons. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Vehicle license and registration fees: means charges that may be imposed upon any rental transaction originating in this State to recoup the costs incurred by a rental car company to license, title, inspect, and register rental vehicles. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-201
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.