Terms Used In New York Laws > Family Court > Article 5-C - Judgment of Parentage of Children Conceived Through Assisted Reproduction or Pursuant to Surrogacy Agreements.

• Active service: shall mean service while being paid on the payroll of a participating employer. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Active service: shall mean service while being paid on the payroll of a participating employer provided, however, a leave of absence with pay may be deemed active service pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• 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.
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse and includes but is not limited to:

  1. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102

• 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}
• Child: means a born individual of any age whose parentage may be determined under this act or other law. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Compensation: means payment of any valuable consideration in excess of reasonable medical and ancillary costs. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contingent beneficiary: Receiver of property or benefits if the first named beneficiary fails to receive any or all of the property or benefits in question before his (her) death.
• 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.
• Cost-of-living index: shall mean the consumer price index (all items--United States city averages) published by the United States bureau of labor statistics. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Credited service: shall mean all service which has been credited to a member pursuant to section five hundred thirteen or which was credited to such member in a public retirement system of the state before such member became subject to this article and which is allowable as previous service pursuant to section five hundred thirteen. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Credited service: shall mean all service which has been credited to a member pursuant to section six hundred nine of this article. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Donor: means an individual who does not intend to be a parent who produces gametes and provides them to another person, other than the individual's spouse, for use in assisted reproduction. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Early retirement age: shall mean age fifty-five, for general members, and the age on which a member completes or would have completed twenty years of service, for police/fire members, New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan members and investigator revised plan members. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Elective member: shall mean a member who is not subject to the provisions of this article on a mandatory basis. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• eligible beneficiary: shall mean such person as the member shall have nominated to receive the benefits provided in this article. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Embryo: means a cell or group of cells containing a diploid complement of chromosomes or group of such cells, not a gamete or gametes, that has the potential to develop into a live born human being if transferred into the body of a person under conditions in which gestation may be reasonably expected to occur. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Embryo transfer: means all medical and laboratory procedures that are necessary to effectuate the transfer of an embryo into the uterine cavity. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• 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.
• Excess contributions: shall mean any contributions (and interest thereon) made by a member prior to becoming subject to this article which, if not withdrawn, would have been used to purchase an additional annuity at retirement had the member continued in the plan of which he was a member before becoming subject to this article. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Federal social security program: shall mean the federal old age and survivor's assistance program under the federal social security act. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Felony: A crime carrying a penalty of more than a year in prison.
• 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.
• 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.
• Gamete: means a cell containing a haploid complement of DNA that has the potential to form an embryo when combined with another gamete. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• General member: shall mean a member subject to the provisions of this article who is not a police/fire member, a New York city uniformed correction/sanitation revised plan member or an investigator revised plan member. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• 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.
• Head of the retirement system: shall mean the comptroller, with respect to the state employees' retirement system and the state and local police and fire retirement system, and the retirement board of the other public retirement systems of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Head of the retirement system: shall mean the comptroller, with respect to the state employees' retirement system and the retirement board of the other public retirement systems of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Health care practitioner: means an individual licensed or certified under title eight of the education law, or a similar law of another state or country, acting within his or her scope of practice. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• In service: shall mean any period during which a member is on the payroll of a public employer, in the service upon which membership is based, and any period during which the member was not on the payroll if he or she; (a) was on the payroll and paid within the previous twelve months, (b) had not been gainfully employed since ceasing to be on such payroll, (c) had credit for at least one year of continuous service since last entering or reentering the service of the public employer and (d) was not eligible for or receiving a service retirement or disability benefit. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• In vitro fertilization: means the formation of a human embryo outside the human body. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• 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}
• Independent escrow agent: means someone other than the parties to a surrogacy agreement and their attorneys. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intended parent: is a n individual who manifests the intent to be legally bound as the parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction or a surrogacy agreement provided he or she meets the requirements of this article. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Investigator revised plan member: shall mean an investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system who is a police officer as defined in paragraph (g) of subdivision thirty-four of section 1. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• 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.
• Member: shall mean any person included in the membership of a public retirement system of this state as provided in section five hundred of this article. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Member: shall mean a member subject to the provisions of this article. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• New York city enhanced plan member: shall mean (a) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who becomes subject to the provisions of this article on or after June fifteenth, two thousand sixteen and who is a member of the New York city fire department pension fund, (b) a police/fire member who is a member of the New York city fire department pension fund and who makes an election, which shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related to New York city enhanced plan members, (c) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who became subject to the provisions of this article before June fifteenth, two thousand sixteen, who is a member of the New York city fire department pension fund, and who makes an election, which shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related to New York city enhanced plan members, (d) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who becomes subject to the provisions of this article on or after April first, two thousand seventeen and who is a member of the New York city police pension fund, (e) a police/fire member who is a member of the New York city police pension fund and who makes an election, which shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of the chapter of

  the laws of two thousand seventeen which amended this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related to New York city enhanced plan members, or (f) a New York city police/fire revised plan member who became subject to the provisions of this article before April first, two thousand seventeen, who is a member of the New York city police pension fund, and who makes an election, which shall be irrevocable and shall be duly executed and filed with the administrative head of such pension fund no later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand seventeen which amended this subdivision, to be subject to the provisions of this article related to New York city enhanced plan members. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501

• New York city revised plan member: shall mean a member of the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teachers' retirement system or the board of education retirement system of the city of New York who becomes subject to the provisions of this article on or after April first, two thousand twelve. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Normal retirement age: shall mean age sixty-two. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• overtime ceiling: shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on January first, two thousand ten, and shall be increased by three percent each year thereafter, provided, however, that for members who first become members of the New York state and local employees' retirement system on or after April first, two thousand twelve, "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on April first, two thousand twelve, and shall be increased each year thereafter by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the consumer price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• overtime ceiling: shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on January first, two thousand ten, and shall be increased by three per cent each year thereafter, provided, however, that:

  (i) for members who first become members of a public retirement system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on April first, two thousand twelve, and shall be increased each year thereafter by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the consumer price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601

• Overtime compensation: shall mean , for purposes of this section, compensation paid under any law or policy under which employees are paid at a rate greater than their standard rate for additional hours worked beyond those required, including compensation paid under § 134 of the civil service law and § 90 of the general municipal law. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Parent: as used in this article means an individual with a parent-child relationship created or recognized under this act or other law. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Participant: is a n individual who either: provides a gamete that is used in assisted reproduction, is an intended parent, is a person acting as surrogate, or is the spouse of an intended parent or person acting as surrogate. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Participating employer: shall mean a public employer who is participating in a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Participating employer: shall mean a public employer who is participating in a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• 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 acting as surrogate: means an adult person, not an intended parent, who enters into a surrogacy agreement to bear a child who will be the legal child of the intended parent or parents so long as the person acting as surrogate has not provided the egg used to conceive the resulting child. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Primary social security disability benefit: shall mean the benefit payable to a disabled covered employee under the federal social security program, exclusive of any family benefits, calculated as provided in subdivision c of section five hundred eleven. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Primary social security retirement benefit: shall mean the benefit payable to a covered employee, at age sixty-two or later, under the federal social security program, exclusive of any family benefits, calculated as provided in subdivision c of section five hundred eleven. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Proxy voting: The practice of allowing a legislator to cast a vote in committee for an absent legislator.
• Public employer: shall mean an employer who is eligible to participate in a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Public employer: shall mean an employer who is eligible to participate in a public retirement system of the state. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601
• Public retirement system of the state: shall mean the New York state employees' retirement system, New York state and local police and fire retirement system, New York state teacher's retirement system, New York city employees' retirement system, New York city teacher's retirement system, New York city police pension fund, New York city fire department pension fund and the New York city board of education retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Public retirement system of the state: shall mean the New York state employees' retirement system, New York state teachers' retirement system, New York city employees' retirement system (except with respect to members qualified for participation in the uniformed transit police force plan or housing police force plan), New York city teachers'

  retirement system and the New York city board of education retirement system. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601

• Record: means information inscribed in a tangible medium or stored in an electronic or other medium that is retrievable in perceivable form. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Retrieval: means the procurement of eggs or sperm from a gamete provider. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• 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.
• Spouse: means an individual married to another, or who has a legal relationship entered into under the laws of the United States or of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction, which is substantially equivalent to a marriage, including a civil union or domestic partnership. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Surrogacy agreement: is a n agreement between at least one intended parent and a person acting as surrogate intended to result in a live birth where the child will be the legal child of the intended parents. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transfer: means the placement of an embryo or gametes into the body of a person with the intent to achieve pregnancy and live birth. See N.Y. Family Court Law 581-102
• Wages: shall mean regular compensation earned by and paid to a member by a public employer, except that for members who first join the state and local employees' retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten, overtime compensation paid in any year in excess of the overtime ceiling, as defined by this subdivision, shall not be included in the definition of wages. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 501
• Wages: shall mean regular compensation earned by and paid to a member by a public employer, except that for members who first join the New York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state teachers' retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten, overtime compensation paid in any year in excess of the overtime ceiling, as defined by this subdivision, shall not be included in the definition of wages. See N.Y. Retirement and Social Security Law 601