Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 7 > Chapter 3 > Part 42 - Municipal Commission Government

• accessory to a corner: means any exclusively identifiable physical object whose spatial relationship to the corner is recorded. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• 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.
• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Agency: means a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state of Montana or of a political subdivision of the state, a department, agency, or instrumentality of two or more states or two or more political subdivisions of the state or of two or more states, or a person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain as provided in Title 70, chapter 30. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Airstrip: means improved or unimproved landing areas on private land used by pilots to land, park, take off, unload, load, and taxi aircraft. See Montana Code 70-16-302
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Ascendant: means an individual who precedes another individual in lineage, in the direct line of ascent from the other individual. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• 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.
• 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}
• board: means the board of professional engineers and professional land surveyors provided for in 2-15-1763. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• Business: means any lawful activity, except a farm operation, conducted:

  (a)primarily for the purchase, sale, lease, and rental of personal and real property and for the manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, or any other personal property;

  (b)primarily for the sale of services to the public;

  (c)primarily by a nonprofit organization; or

  (d)solely for the purposes of paying moving or related expenses to assist in the purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, personal property, or services by the erection and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display or displays, whether or not the display or displays are located on the premises on which any of the activities included as a business are conducted. See Montana Code 70-31-102

• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Cleaning expenses: means the actual and necessary cost of cleaning done by an owner or the owner's selected representative for cleaning needs not attributable to normal wear brought about by the tenant's failure to bring the premises to the condition it was at the time of renting. See Montana Code 70-25-101
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Collateral: means an individual who is related to another individual under the law of intestate succession of this state but who is not the other individual's ascendant or descendant. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Customary: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Damage: means any and all tangible loss, injury, or deterioration of a leasehold premises caused by the willful or accidental acts of the tenant occupying the leasehold premises or by the tenant's family, licensees, or invitees, as well as any and all tangible loss, injury, or deterioration resulting from the tenant's omissions or failure to perform any duty imposed upon the tenant by law with respect to the leasehold. See Montana Code 70-25-101
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Descendant: means an individual who follows another individual in lineage, in the direct line of descent from the other individual. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• Determination of value: means a court order determining the fair market value of heirs property under 70-29-410 or 70-29-414 or adopting the valuation of the property agreed to by all cotenants. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Displaced person: means :

  (i)any person who moves from real property or moves that person's personal property from real property:

  (A)as a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire or by the acquisition of the real property, in whole or in part, for a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency for which federal financial assistance will be available to pay all or any part of the cost; or

  (B)on which the person is a residential tenant or conducts a small business, farm operation, or a business defined in subsection (4)(d), as a direct result of rehabilitation, demolition, or other displacing activity prescribed by the agency under a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency that has determined that the displacement is permanent and for which federal financial assistance will be available to pay all or any part of the cost;

  (ii)any person who, for purposes of providing moving and related expenses or relocation advisory services only, moves from real property or moves that person's personal property from real property as a direct result of:

  (A)a written notice of intent to acquire or as a direct result of the acquisition of other real property, in whole or in part, on which the person conducts a business or farm operation, for a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency; or

  (B)the rehabilitation, demolition, or other displacing activity prescribed by the agency under a program or project undertaken by a displacing agency that has determined that the displacement is permanent. See Montana Code 70-31-102

• Dower: A widow
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Farm operation: means any activity conducted solely or primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or commodities, including timber, for sale or home use and customarily producing agricultural products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be capable of contributing materially to the operator's support. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Federal financial assistance: means a grant, loan, or contribution provided by the United States, except any federal guarantee or insurance. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• 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.
• Flying of aircraft: means the operation of aircraft, including but not limited to landing, parking, taking off, unloading, loading, and taxiing of aircraft at an airstrip. See Montana Code 70-16-302
• 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.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• Heirs property: means real property held in tenancy in common that satisfies all of the following requirements as of the filing of a partition action:

  (a)there is no agreement in a record binding all the cotenants that governs the partition of the property;

  (b)one or more of the cotenants acquired title from a relative, whether living or deceased; and

  (c)any of the following applies:

  (i)20% or more of the interests are held by cotenants who are relatives;

  (ii)20% or more of the interests are held by an individual who acquired title from a relative, whether living or deceased; or

  (iii)20% or more of the cotenants are relatives. See Montana Code 70-29-402

• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Judicial record: means the record of official entry of the proceedings in a court of justice or of the official act of a judicial officer in an action or special proceeding. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• 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.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Landowner: means a person or entity of any nature, whether private, governmental, or quasi-governmental, and includes the landowner's agent, tenant, lessee, occupant, grantee of conservation easement, water users' association, irrigation district, drainage district, and persons or entities in control of the property or with an agreement to use or occupy property. See Montana Code 70-16-302
• 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}
• Leasehold premises: means the premises occupied by the tenant together with all common areas, recreational facilities, parking areas, and storage facilities to which the tenant has access, as well as all personal property owned or controlled by the landlord the use of which is permitted to the tenant. See Montana Code 70-25-101
• 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.
• Mold: means any mold, fungus, mildew, or spores. See Montana Code 70-16-702
• monument: means an accessory that is presumed to occupy the exact position of a corner. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• 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.
• 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.
• Partition by sale: means a court-ordered sale of the entire heirs property, whether by auction, sealed bids, or open-market sale conducted under 70-29-414. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• Partition in kind: means the division of heirs property into physically distinct and separately titled parcels. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• 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 a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, or association. See Montana Code 70-31-102
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means land, roads, airstrips, water, watercourses, and private ways. See Montana Code 70-16-302
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• property corner: means a geographic point on the surface of the earth and is on, is a part of, and controls a property line. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• public land survey corner: means any corner actually established and monumented in an original survey or resurvey used as a basis of legal description for issuing a patent for the land to a private person from the United States government. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• 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.
• Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• Recreational purposes: as used in this part , includes hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, waterskiing, camping, picnicking, pleasure driving, biking, winter sports, hiking, touring or viewing cultural and historical sites and monuments, spelunking, or other pleasure expeditions. See Montana Code 70-16-301
• reference monument: means a special monument that does not occupy the same geographical position as the corner itself but whose spatial relationship to the corner is recorded and that serves to witness the corner. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• Relative: means an ascendant, descendant, or collateral or an individual otherwise related to another individual by blood, marriage, adoption, or law of this state other than this part. See Montana Code 70-29-402
• 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.
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Security deposit: means value given, in money or its equivalent, to secure the payment of rent by the tenant under a leasehold agreement or to secure payment for damage to and cleaning of the leasehold premises. See Montana Code 70-25-101
• 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.
• Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• 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.
• Subscribing witness: means a person who sees a writing executed or hears it acknowledged and at the request of the party signs the person's name as a witness. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• surveyor: means a person who is licensed to practice land surveying under Title 37, chapter 67, and has a paid-up license for that calendar year or who is authorized under Title 37, chapter 67, to practice land surveying. See Montana Code 70-22-103
• 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
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Trustor: The person who makes or creates a trust. Also known as the grantor or settlor.
• 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 the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Usage: means a reasonable and lawful public custom concerning transactions of the same nature as those which are to be affected thereby, existing at the place where the obligation is to be performed, and either known to the parties or so well established, general, and uniform that the parties must be presumed to have acted with reference thereto. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Usual: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• 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.
• Wind easement: means the right granted by the owner of real property to a wind energy developer guaranteeing the developer the right to use the real property legally described in a wind energy agreement and the wind resource located on and flowing over its surface to develop a wind energy project. See Montana Code 70-17-402
• Wind energy agreement: means any wind energy lease or license or any other written document entered into between the owner of the real property and the wind energy developer that contains the wind easement. See Montana Code 70-17-402
• Wind energy developer: means the person that enters into a wind option agreement or wind energy agreement with the owner of the real property for the purpose of developing a wind energy project. See Montana Code 70-17-402
• Wind energy right: means an interest in real property on and over which the wind resource is located and flows that is appurtenant to the real property. See Montana Code 70-17-402
• Wind option agreement: means a written agreement in which the owner of real property grants a wind energy developer an exclusive right to obtain a wind easement through a wind energy agreement. See Montana Code 70-17-402
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ: means an order in writing issued in the name of the state or of a court or judicial officer. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203