Terms Used In Missouri Laws > Chapter 10 - State Emblems

• Acknowledgment: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adult: a person who has reached the age of eighteen years. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmation: a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an oath and in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• 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}
• certificate: the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that, in the performance of the notarization, is completed by the notary, bears the notary's official signature and seal, and states the date, venue, and facts attested by the notary in the particular notarial act. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Claims: liabilities of the protectee arising in contract, in tort or otherwise, before or after the appointment of a conservator, and liabilities of the estate which arise at or after the adjudication of disability or after the appointment of a conservator of the estate, including expenses of the adjudication and of administration. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Commission: both the granting of authority to perform notarial acts and the written evidence of the granting of authority to perform such acts. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• 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.
• conservator: as used in this chapter , includes limited conservator unless otherwise specified or apparent from the context. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Conservator ad litem: one appointed by the court in which particular litigation is pending regarding the management of financial resources on behalf of a minor, a disabled person, or an unborn person in that particular proceeding or as otherwise specified in this chapter. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• 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.
• Copy certification: a notarial act in which a notary:

  (a) Locates or is presented with a paper or an electronic document that is not a vital record, a public record, or a recorded document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County: any of the several counties of this state or the City of St. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• County clerk: any of the several county clerks of this state or the clerk of the circuit court in the City of St. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• Credible witness: an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath or affirmation from the notary to vouch for that individual's identity. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Cross examine: Questioning of a witness by the attorney for the other side.
• Custodial parent: the parent of a minor who has been awarded sole or joint physical custody of such minor, or the parent of an incapacitated person who has been appointed as guardian of such person, by an order or judgment of a court of this state or of another state or territory of the United States, or if there is no such order or judgment, the parent with whom the minor or incapacitated person primarily resides. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• daily newspaper: shall mean a newspaper which is published every day, or each day except Sundays and legal holidays, or which shall be published on each of any five days in every week excepting legal holidays and including or excluding Sundays. See Missouri Laws 493.045
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• disabled person: one who is:

  (a) Unable by reason of any physical, mental, or cognitive condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to such an extent that the person lacks ability to manage the person's financial resources. See Missouri Laws 475.010

• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Dower: A widow
• En banc: In the bench or "full bench." Refers to court sessions with the entire membership of a court participating rather than the usual quorum. U.S. courts of appeals usually sit in panels of three judges, but may expand to a larger number in certain cases. They are then said to be sitting en banc.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Executor: includes administrator where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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
• General election: means the election required to be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, biennially. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guardian: one appointed by a court to have the care and custody of the person of a minor or of an incapacitated person. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• 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: if used in a section in a context relating to property rights or obligations, means conservator of the estate as defined in chapter 475. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Guardian ad litem: one appointed by a court, in which particular litigation is pending on behalf of a minor, an incapacitated person, a disabled person, or an unborn person in that particular proceeding or as otherwise specified in this code. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Guardianship: if used in a section in a context relating to rights and obligations other than property rights or obligations, means guardian of the person as defined in chapter 475. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Habilitation: a process of treatment, training, care, or specialized attention that seeks to enhance and maximize the ability of a person with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability to cope with the environment and to live as determined by the person as much as possible, as is appropriate for the person considering his or her physical and mental condition and financial means. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• hereafter: means the time after the statute containing it takes effect. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Heretofore: means any time previous to the day when the statute containing it takes effect. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• In vacation: includes any adjournment of court for more than one day whenever any act is authorized to be done by or any power given to a court, or judge thereof in vacation, or whenever any act is authorized to be done by or any power given to a clerk of any court in vacation. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Incapacitated person: one who is unable by reason of any physical, mental, or cognitive condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to such an extent that the person, even with appropriate services and assistive technology, lacks capacity to manage the person's essential requirements for food, clothing, shelter, safety or other care such that serious physical injury, illness, or disease is likely to occur. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Incompetent: if used in a section in a context relating to actual occupational ability without reference to a court adjudication of incompetency, means the actual ability of a person to perform in that occupation. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interested persons: spouses, children, parents, adult members of a ward's or protectee's family, creditors or any others having a property right or claim against the estate of a protectee being administered, trustees of a trust of which the ward or protectee is a beneficiary, agents of a durable power of attorney for a ward or protectee, and children of a protectee who may have a property right or claim against or an interest in the estate of a protectee. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• journal: a permanently bound book to create and preserve a chronological record of notarizations that is maintained by the notary public who performed the same notarizations. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Jurat: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• 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.
• 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}
• Least restrictive alternative: with respect to the guardianship order and the exercise of power by the guardian, a course of action or an alternative that allows the incapacitated person to live, learn, and work with minimum restrictions on the person, as are appropriate for the person considering his or her physical and mental condition and financial means. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• levy: as used in this chapter, shall be construed to mean the actual seizure of property by the officer charged with the execution of the writ. See Missouri Laws 513.010
• 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.
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Magistrate judges: Judicial officers who assist U.S. district judges in getting cases ready for trial, who may decide some criminal and civil trials when both parties agree to have the case heard by a magistrate judge instead of a judge.
• Minor: any person who is under the age of eighteen years. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Month: means a calendar month, and "year" means a calendar year unless otherwise expressed, and is equivalent to the words year of our Lord. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• notarization: any official act of certification, attestation, or administration that a notary public is empowered to perform pursuant to this chapter. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• notary: any person commissioned to perform notarial acts pursuant to this chapter. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Oath: a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an affirmation and in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Official signature: a handwritten signature made by a notary that uses the exact name appearing in the notary's commission and is signed with the intent to perform a notarial act. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Parent: the biological or adoptive mother or father of a child whose parental rights have not been terminated under chapter 211, including:

  (a) A person registered as the father of the child by reason of an unrevoked notice of intent to claim paternity under section 192. See Missouri Laws 475.010

• Partially disabled person: one who is unable by reason of any physical, mental, or cognitive condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to such an extent that such person lacks capacity to manage, in part, his or her financial resources. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Partially incapacitated person: one who is unable by reason of any physical, mental, or cognitive condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to the extent that such person lacks capacity to meet, in part, essential requirements for food, clothing, shelter, safety, or other care without court-ordered assistance. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• 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: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• personally knows: familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• Place of residence: means the place where the family of any person permanently resides in this state, and the place where any person having no family generally lodges. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Pretrial conference: A meeting of the judge and lawyers to discuss which matters should be presented to the jury, to review evidence and witnesses, to set a timetable, and to discuss the settlement of the case.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Protectee: a person for whose estate a conservator or limited conservator has been appointed or with respect to whose estate a transaction has been authorized by the court under section 475. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• qualified person: a natural person, social service agency, corporation or national or state banking organization qualified to act as guardian of the person or conservator of the estate pursuant to the provisions of section 475. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: as used in this chapter, shall be construed to include all estate and interest in lands, tenements and hereditaments liable to be sold upon execution. See Missouri Laws 511.010
• real estate: as used in this chapter shall be construed to include all estate and interest in lands, tenements and hereditaments, including a manufactured home as defined in section 700. See Missouri Laws 513.010
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Regular place of work or business: a stationary office or workspace where one spends all or some of one's working or business hours. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Requester of fact: a person who asks the notary public to perform a copy certification. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Satisfactory evidence: evidence of identification of an individual based on:

  (a) At least one current document issued by a federal, state, or tribal government in a language understood by the notary and bearing the photographic image of the individual's face and signature and a physical description of the individual, or a properly stamped passport without a physical description. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Secretary: the secretary of state for the state of Missouri. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Seriously ill: a significant likelihood that a person will become incapacitated or die within twelve months. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• 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.
• Signature witnessing: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Social service agency: a charitable organization organized and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of this state and which qualifies as an exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3), or any successor provision thereto of the federal Internal Revenue Code. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• Standby guardian: one who is authorized to have the temporary care and custody of the person of a minor or of an incapacitated person under the provisions of section 475. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• 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.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Treatment: the prevention, amelioration or cure of a person's physical and mental illnesses or incapacities. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Voir dire: The process by which judges and lawyers select a petit jury from among those eligible to serve, by questioning them to determine knowledge of the facts of the case and a willingness to decide the case only on the evidence presented in court. "Voir dire" is a phrase meaning "to speak the truth."
• voter: is used in the laws of this state it shall mean registered voter, or legal voter. See Missouri Laws 1.035
• Ward: a minor or an incapacitated person for whom a guardian, limited guardian, or standby guardian has been appointed. See Missouri Laws 475.010
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.