(i) A savings bank, directly or indirectly, owns or controls either a majority of its voting shares or more than 50% of the number of shares voted for the election of its directors, trustees, or other persons exercising similar functions at the preceding election, or controls in any manner the election of a majority of its directors, trustees, or other persons exercising similar functions. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Agency office: means a place at which the business of a savings bank is conducted other than by regularly employed personnel of the savings bank, as provided under section 417(6). See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.

Animals: means cattle, horses, sheep, or swine. See Michigan Laws 322.581

annual meeting: when applied to townships, mean the annual meeting required by law to be held on the Saturday immediately preceding the first Monday in April. See Michigan Laws 8.3d

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.

Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.

Application: means a written request to the probate register for an order of informal probate or informal appointment under part 3 of article III. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization

Articles: means articles of incorporation, all amendments to articles of incorporation, and agreements of consolidation and merger. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.

Association: means a federal savings association organized under section 5 of the home owners' loan act, chapter 64, 48 Stat. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Attorney: means , if appointed to represent a child under the provisions referenced in section 5213, an attorney serving as the child's legal advocate in the manner defined and described in section 13a of chapter XIIA of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Bank: means a state banking corporation organized or reorganized under the provisions of the banking code of 1999, 1999 PA 276, MCL 487. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

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}

Branch: means a place of business, other than the principal office of a savings bank, at which the savings bank transacts business that may be conducted at its principal office. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Bureau: means the office of financial and insurance services in the department of consumer and industry services. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Capital: means the stated par value of issued and outstanding unimpaired common stock and the stated par value of issued and outstanding unimpaired preferred stock. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Claim: includes , but is not limited to, in respect to a decedent's or protected individual's estate, a liability of the decedent or protected individual, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise, and a liability of the estate that arises at or after the decedent's death or after a conservator's appointment, including funeral and burial expenses and costs and expenses of administration. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Commissioner: means the commissioner of the office of financial and insurance services. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

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.

Conservator: means a person appointed by a court to manage a protected individual's estate. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.

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.

Court: means the probate court or, when applicable, the family division of circuit court. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.

Decedent: A deceased person.

Department: means the department of natural resources and environment. See Michigan Laws 322.581

Department: means the department of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.95151

Department: means the department of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.95161

Depository institution: means a bank, out-of-state bank, national bank, association, savings bank, cooperative bank, industrial bank, or credit union organized under the laws of this state, another state, the District of Columbia, the United States, or a territory or protectorate of the United States. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Descendant: means , in relation to an individual, all of his or her descendants of all generations, with the relationship of parent and child at each generation being determined by the definitions of child and parent contained in this act. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Devisee: means a person designated in a will to receive a devise. See Michigan Laws 700.1103

Director: means a director, trustee, or other person holding a similar position with respect to an organization whether incorporated or unincorporated. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Director: means the director of the department of natural resources and environment. See Michigan Laws 322.581

Dog: includes a domesticated dog and a dog used for hunting. See Michigan Laws 324.95161

Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}

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}

Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.

Estate: includes the property of the decedent, trust, or other person whose affairs are subject to this act as the property is originally constituted and as it exists throughout administration. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

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.

Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent

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 act: means the federal reserve act, chapter 6, 38 Stat. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

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}

Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.

Fiduciary: means a trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, agent, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, assignee for creditors, or any holder of a similar position of trust. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

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.

Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}

Foreign country: means a country other than the United States and includes a colony, dependency, or possession of a country other than the United States. See Michigan Laws 487.3102

Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}

Formal proceedings: means proceedings conducted before a judge with notice to interested persons. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.

Funeral establishment: means that term as defined in section 1801 of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

Funeral representative: means an individual designated to have the right and power to make decisions about funeral arrangements and the handling, disposition, or disinterment of a decedent's body, including, but not limited to, decisions about cremation, and the right to possess cremated remains of the decedent as provided in section 3206. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

Funeral representative designation: means a written document executed and with the effect as described in section 3206 to 3206b. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

General personal representative: means a personal representative other than a special personal representative. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.

governing body: shall be construed to mean, in the case of a county, the board of supervisors; in the case of a city, the council, common council, commission or other body having legislative powers; in the case of a village, the council, common council, commission, board of trustees or other body having legislative powers; in the case of a township, the township board; in the case of a metropolitan district, the legislative body of the district; and in the case of an authority, the body in which is lodged general governing powers. See Michigan Laws 323.101

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.

Heir: means , except as controlled by section 2720, a person, including the surviving spouse or the state, that is entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to a decedent's property. See Michigan Laws 700.1104

in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q

Incapacitated individual: means an individual who is impaired by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency, physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic intoxication, or other cause, not including minority, to the extent of lacking sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate informed decisions. See Michigan Laws 700.1105

Informal proceedings: means proceedings for probate of a will or appointment of a personal representative conducted by the probate register without notice to interested persons. See Michigan Laws 700.1105

Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.

Issue: means an individual's descendant. See Michigan Laws 700.1105

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}

Letters: includes , but is not limited to, letters testamentary, letters of guardianship, letters of administration, and letters of conservatorship. See Michigan Laws 700.1105

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.

Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.

Livestock: means those species of animals used for human food or fiber or those species of animals used for service to humans. See Michigan Laws 324.95151

Loan production office: means an office of the savings bank at which only activities related to money lending are conducted, which is not the principal office or a branch or an agency office or an office of an affiliated depository institution. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Member: means a person holding a savings account of a mutual savings bank. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Messenger service: means a service such as a courier service or an armored car service that picks up from or delivers to customers of 1 or more depository institutions or 1 or more affiliates of a depository institution cash, currency, checks, drafts, securities, or other items relating to transactions between or involving a depository institution or affiliate of a depository institution and those customers, or that transfers cash, currency, checks, drafts, securities, or other items or documents between depository institutions or affiliates of depository institutions. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Minor: means an individual who is less than 18 years of age. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

Mobile branch: means a branch in which the location of the physical structure of the branch is moved from time to time. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.

Mutual savings bank: means a savings bank for which the articles of incorporation do not authorize the issuance of common or preferred stock. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

National bank: means a bank chartered by the federal government under the national bank act, chapter 106, 13 Stat. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}

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.

Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}

Out-of-state bank: means a banking corporation or savings bank organized under the laws of another state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States whose principal office is located in a state other than this state, the District of Columbia, a territory or a protectorate of the United States, and whose deposits are insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

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.

Patient advocate: means an individual designated to exercise powers concerning another individual's care, custody, and medical or mental health treatment or authorized to make an anatomical gift on behalf of another individual, or both, as provided in section 5506. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

Person: means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, governmental entity, partnership, limited liability partnership, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Person: means an individual or an organization. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l

Personal property: All property that is not real property.

Personal representative: includes , but is not limited to, an executor, administrator, successor personal representative, and special personal representative, and any other person, other than a trustee of a trust subject to article VII, who performs substantially the same function under the law governing that person's status. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

Petition: means a written request to the court for an order after notice. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

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.

Probate: Proving a will

Proceeding: includes an application and a petition, and may be an action at law or a suit in equity. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, and includes both real and personal property or an interest in real or personal property. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

Protected individual: means a minor or other individual for whom a conservator has been appointed or other protective order has been made as provided in part 4 of article V. See Michigan Laws 700.1106

public corporation: shall be construed to mean any county, city, village, township or metropolitan district, of the state of Michigan, or any authority created by or pursuant to an act of the legislature. See Michigan Laws 323.101

Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.

Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.

Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.

Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}

Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.

Savings bank: means a state banking corporation organized or reorganized under this act. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

seal: shall be construed to include any of the following:

  (a) The impression of the seal on the paper alone. See Michigan Laws 8.3n

Service entity: means a stock corporation, mutual company, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or limited partnership in which a savings bank has invested under section 410. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

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.

shall not apply: means that the pertinent provision is not operative as to certain persons or things or in conjunction with a particular date or dates. See Michigan Laws 8.4c

Special personal representative: means a personal representative as described by section 3614 to 3618. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o

State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

Stock savings bank: means a savings bank for which the articles of incorporation authorize the issuance of capital stock. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

Subsidiary: means a corporation, mutual company, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or limited partnership, the controlling interests of which are more than 50% owned by 1 or more federally insured depository institutions, and in which a savings bank has an ownership interest, membership interest, or other legally enforceable interest which has the indicia of ownership. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Successor: means a person, other than a creditor, who is entitled to property of a decedent under the decedent's will or this act. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

Supervised administration: means the proceedings described in part 5 of article III. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

Surplus: means the amount paid for issued and outstanding common and preferred stock in excess of the stated par value, plus any amount of transferred undivided profits, and any additional amounts paid in or contributed to increase total capital. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Testacy proceeding: means a proceeding to establish a will or determine intestacy. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

Testify: Answer questions in court.

Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.

Total capital: means an amount equal to any capital, plus any surplus, undivided profits, and instruments of indebtedness authorized under section 310. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Trust: includes , but is not limited to, an express trust, private or charitable, with additions to the trust, wherever and however created. See Michigan Laws 700.1107

Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

United States: shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o

Value: means the present worth of all rights to future benefits arising from ownership. See Michigan Laws 487.3103

Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.

Ward: means an individual for whom a guardian is appointed. See Michigan Laws 700.1108