Terms Used In New York Laws > Debtor and Creditor > Article 2 - General Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors

• activities of daily living: means activities such as, but not limited to, mobility, eating, toileting, dressing, grooming, housekeeping, cooking, shopping, money management, banking, driving or using public transportation, and other activities related to personal needs and to property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• available resources: means resources such as, but not limited to, visiting nurses, homemakers, home health aides, adult day care and multipurpose senior citizen centers, powers of attorney, health care proxies, trusts, representative and protective payees, and residential care facilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• 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.
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• facility: means a facility, hospital, or school, or an alcoholism facility in this state as such terms are defined in section 1. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• functional level: means the ability to provide for personal needs and/or the ability with respect to property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• functional limitations: means behavior or conditions of a person which impair the ability to provide for personal needs and/or property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• guardian: means a person who is eighteen years of age or older, a corporation, or a public agency, including a local department of social services, appointed in accordance with terms of this article by the supreme court, the surrogate's court, or the county court to act on behalf of an incapacitated person in providing for personal needs and/or for property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• judge: when used in this article shall apply equally to a county judge of the county within which the assignment is recorded and to justices of the supreme court, and the term "court" when used in this article shall, in like manner, apply to the county court of such county and to the supreme court. See N.Y. Debtor and Creditor Law 2
• 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 form of intervention: means that the powers granted by the court to the guardian with respect to the incapacitated person represent only those powers which are necessary to provide for that person's personal needs and/or property management and which are consistent with affording that person the greatest amount of independence and self-determination in light of that person's understanding and appreciation of the nature and consequences of his or her functional limitations. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• mental hygiene facility: means a facility, hospital, or school, or an alcoholism facility in this state as such terms are defined in section 1. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• personal needs: means needs such as, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, health care, and safety. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• property management: means taking actions to obtain, administer, protect, and dispose of real and personal property, intangible property, business property, benefits, and income and to deal with financial affairs. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
• 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.
• 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.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.