Terms Used In California Codes > Government Code > Title 2 > Division 3 > Part 5.5 > Chapter 5.5 - State Forms Management

• Action: includes a civil action and a criminal action. See California Evidence Code 105
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Burden of proof: means the obligation of a party to establish by evidence a requisite degree of belief concerning a fact in the mind of the trier of fact or the court. See California Evidence Code 115
• compensation: means the remuneration paid out of funds controlled by the employer in payment for the member's services performed during normal working hours or for time during which the member is excused from work because of any of the following:

  California Government Code 20630

• Conservator: includes a limited conservator. See California Probate Code 30
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• director: refer to the Department of General Services and the Director of General Services, respectively, unless the context otherwise requires. See California Government Code 14602
• Financial institution: means a state or national bank, state or federal savings and loan association or credit union, or like organization. See California Probate Code 40
• 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.
• Instrument: means a will, a document establishing or modifying a trust, a deed, or any other writing that designates a beneficiary or makes a donative transfer of property. See California Probate Code 45
• Law: includes constitutional, statutory, and decisional law. See California Evidence Code 160
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• 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.
• 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: means an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other entity. See California Probate Code 56
• Person: includes a natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or public entity. See California Evidence Code 175
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: means executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, special administrator, successor personal representative, public administrator acting pursuant to Section 7660, or a person who performs substantially the same function under the law of another jurisdiction governing the person's status. See California Probate Code 58
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
• 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 California Probate Code 70
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Government Code 12.2
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
• State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See California Probate Code 74
• State agency: as used in this chapter does not include educational institutions. See California Government Code 14773
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute: includes a treaty and a constitutional provision. See California Evidence Code 230
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Transferor: means the testator, settlor, grantor, owner, or other person who executes an instrument. See California Probate Code 81
• Trust: includes the following:

  California Probate Code 82

• Trust company: means an entity that has qualified to engage in and conduct a trust business in this state. See California Probate Code 83
• Trustee: includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court. See California Probate Code 84
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Will: includes codicil and any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another will. See California Probate Code 88