Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 554

• 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.
• Authorized inspection agency: means :
  (a) Any county, municipality, town, or other governmental subdivision that has adopted into law the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code of the A. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• 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}
• boiler: includes fired units for heating or vaporizing liquids other than water where these units are separate from processing systems and are complete within themselves. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Boiler insurance company: means a company authorized by a subsisting certificate of authority, issued by the Office of Insurance Regulation, to transact boiler and machinery insurance in this state. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Certificate inspection: means an inspection whose report is used by the chief boiler inspector to determine whether or not a certificate of operation may be issued. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Certificate of competency: means a document issued to a person who has satisfied the minimum competency requirements for boiler inspectors under this chapter. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Certificate of operation: means a document issued to the owner of a boiler which authorizes the owner to operate the boiler, subject to any restrictions endorsed thereon. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• 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.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Financial Services. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• 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.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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}
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Felony: A crime carrying a penalty of more than a year in prison.
• 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.
• Heating boiler: means a steam or vapor boiler operating at pressures not exceeding 15 psig, or a hot water boiler operating at pressures not exceeding 160 psig or temperatures not exceeding 250 °F. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Hot water supply boiler: means a boiler or a lined storage water heater supplying heated water for use external to itself operating at a pressure not exceeding 160 psig or temperature not exceeding 250 °F. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• insurance contract: means a written contract of, or a written agreement for or effecting, insurance, or the certificate thereof, by whatever name called, and includes all clauses, riders, endorsements, and papers which are a part thereof. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• 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}
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 88.6011
• Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• 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: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 88.6011
• Person: means any individual, corporation, association, partnership, reciprocal exchange, interinsurer, Lloyds insurer, fraternal benefit society, or business trust or any entity involved in the business of insurance. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Power boiler: means a boiler in which steam or other vapor is generated at a pressure of more than 15 psig. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• 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.
• Public assembly locations: includes schools, day care centers, community centers, churches, theaters, hospitals, nursing and convalescent homes, stadiums, amusement parks, and other locations open to the general public. See Florida Statutes 626.9511
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 88.6011