Terms Used In Louisiana Codes > Children's Code > Title XV > Chapter 7 - Protection of Terminally Ill Children

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attending physician: means the physician who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the child patient. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• 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}
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Child: means a person under eighteen years of age who has not been judicially emancipated under Civil Code Article 385 or emancipated by marriage under Civil Code Articles 379 through 384. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• Continual profound comatose state: means that there is no reasonable medical possibility of ever achieving a cognitive state of conscious perception. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• 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.
• Death: means that in the announced opinion of a physician, based on ordinary standards of approved medical practice, the child has experienced an irreversible cessation of spontaneous respiratory and circulatory functions. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• Declaration: means a written and witnessed document voluntarily made by the declarant, authorizing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures for a child, in accordance with the requirements of this Chapter. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• 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}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Terminal and irreversible condition: means a condition, injury, disease, or illness which, within reasonable medical judgment, would produce death and for which the application of a life-support system would serve only to postpone the moment of death. See Louisiana Children's Code 1552
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.