§ 1-1-1 Meaning of certain words and terms
§ 1-1-2 Tenses; gender; singular and plural; joint authority
§ 1-1-3 “Blind person” defined; how blindness proved
§ 1-1-4 Computation of time
§ 1-1-4.1 Oberservation of Daylight Saving Time year-round upon act by United States Congress
§ 1-1-5 Public offenses defined
§ 1-1-6 Certain acts or omissions not public offenses
§ 1-1-8 When penal acts take effect
§ 1-1-9 Existing rights, remedies and defenses preserved
§ 1-1-10 Repeal of uncodified statutes of public, general, and permanent nature; certain statutes saved from repeal
§ 1-1-11 Repealed laws not revived
§ 1-1-13 Previous validating acts not repealed
§ 1-1-14 Classification and organization of Code; notes and catchlines of sections not part of law
§ 1-1-15 References to sections, titles, etc
§ 1-1-16 Severability of provisions of Code and statutes

Terms Used In Alabama Code > Title 1 > Chapter 1 - Construction of Code and Statutes

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • blind person: means a natural person who has no vision or whose vision with correcting glasses is so defective as to prevent the performance of ordinary activities for which eyesight is essential, or who has central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses, or whose central visual acuity is more than 20/200 in the better eye with correcting glasses but whose peripheral field has contracted to such an extent that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees. See Alabama Code 1-1-3
  • conservator: A person who is appointed by a court to manage the estate of a protected person and includes a limited conservator described in Section 26-2A-148(a). See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • court: A probate court of this state. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • COURT REPRESENTATIVE: A person appointed in a guardianship or protective proceeding who is trained in law, nursing, or social work, is an officer, employee, or special appointee of the court, and has no personal interest in the proceeding. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • disability: Cause for a protective order as described in Section 26-2A-130. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • Donee: The recipient of a gift.
  • 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.
  • estate: Includes the property of the person whose affairs are subject to this chapter. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. Source: OCC
  • 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.
  • guardian: A person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to parental or spousal nomination or court appointment and includes a limited guardian as described in Sections 26-2A-78(e) and 26-2A-105(c), but excludes one who is merely a guardian ad litem. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
  • Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
  • juries: include courts or judges in all cases when a jury trial is waived, or when the court or judge is authorized to ascertain and determine the facts as well as the law. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • letters: Includes letters of guardianships and letters of conservatorship. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • minor: A person who is under 19 years of age and has not otherwise had the disabilities of minority removed. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • non compos mentis: include all persons of unsound mind. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • 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.
  • parent: Includes any person entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child died without a will, as a parent by intestate succession from the child whose relationship is in question and excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • person: An individual or an organization, unless the context otherwise requires. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidence of debt, deeds and conveyances. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • petition: A written request to the court for an order after notice. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • 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
  • Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
  • proceeding: Includes action at law and suit in equity. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • property: Includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • PROTECTED PERSON: A minor or other person for whom a conservator has been appointed or other protective order has been made as provided in Sections 26-2A-136 and 26-2A-137. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • PROTECTIVE PROCEEDING: A proceeding under the provisions of Article 2, Division 3. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
  • Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
  • security: Includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas, or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate, transferable share, voting trust certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the foregoing. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20
  • subscription: include a mark when the person cannot write, if his name is written near the mark, and witnessed by a person who writes his own name as a witness, and include with respect to corporate securities facsimile signature placed upon any instrument or writing with intent to execute or authenticate such instrument or writing. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
  • Testate: To die leaving a will.
  • ward: A person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Alabama Code 26-2A-20