Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 744 > Part III - Types of Guardianship

• 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.
• 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}
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Clerk: means the clerk or deputy clerk of the court. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• 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.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conveyance: means any motor vehicle, ship, vessel, railroad vehicle or car, trailer, aircraft, or sleeping car; and "to enter a conveyance" includes taking apart any portion of the conveyance. See Florida Statutes 810.011
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Court: means the circuit court. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dump: means to dump, throw, discard, place, deposit, or dispose of any litter. See Florida Statutes 810.011
• Dwelling: means a building or conveyance of any kind, including any attached porch, whether such building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, which has a roof over it and is designed to be occupied by people lodging therein at night, together with the curtilage thereof. See Florida Statutes 810.011
• Estate: means the property of a ward subject to administration. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• 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.
• Foreign guardian: means a guardian appointed in another state or country. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• 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: means a person who has been appointed by the court to act on behalf of a ward's person or property, or both. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Guardian ad litem: means a person who is appointed by the court having jurisdiction of the guardianship or a court in which a particular legal matter is pending to represent a ward in that proceeding. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Guardian advocate: means a person appointed by a written order of the court to represent a person with developmental disabilities under…. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Incapacitated person: means a person who has been judicially determined to lack the capacity to manage at least some of the property or to meet at least some of the essential health and safety requirements of the person. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• 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.
• Litter: means any garbage, rubbish, trash, refuse, debris, can, bottle, box, container, paper, tobacco product, tire, domestic or commercial appliance, mechanical equipment or part, building or construction material, tool, machinery, wood, motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, vessel, aircraft, or farm machinery or equipment; sludge from a waste treatment facility, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; or substance in any form resulting from domestic, industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, or governmental operations. See Florida Statutes 810.011
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Minor: means a person under 18 years of age whose disabilities have not been removed by marriage or otherwise. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Next of kin: means those persons who would be heirs at law of the ward or alleged incapacitated person if the person were deceased and includes the lineal descendants of the ward or alleged incapacitated person. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• 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.
• 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 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plenary guardian: means a person who has been appointed by the court to exercise all delegable legal rights and powers of the ward after the court has found that the ward lacks the capacity to perform all of the tasks necessary to care for his or her person or property. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Preneed guardian: means a person named in a written declaration to serve as guardian in the event of the incapacity of the declarant as provided in…. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: means both real and personal property or any interest in it and anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• registered mail: include certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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.
• Standby guardian: means a person empowered to assume the duties of guardianship upon the death or adjudication of incapacity of the last surviving natural or appointed guardian. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• structure: means any building of any kind, any enclosed area with a roof over it, any real property and appurtenances thereto, any tent or other portable building, and any vehicle, vessel, watercraft, or aircraft. See Florida Statutes 806.01
• Structure: means a building of any kind, either temporary or permanent, which has a roof over it, together with the curtilage thereof. See Florida Statutes 810.011
• Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Florida Statutes 744.102
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• 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 1.01