Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 7-12.1 – Uniform Partnership Act


Article 1	General Provisions [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 2	Nature of Partnership [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 3	Relations of Partners to Persons Dealing with Partnership [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 4	Relations of Partners to Each Other and to Partnership [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 5	Transferable Interests and Rights of Transferees and Creditors [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 6	Dissociation [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 7	Person’s Dissociation As a Partner When Business Not Wound Up [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 8	Dissolution and Winding Up [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 9	Limited Liability Partnership [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 10	Foreign Limited Liability Partnership [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 11	Merger, Interest Exchange, Conversion, and Domestication [Effective January 1, 2023.]
Article 12	Miscellaneous Provisions [Effective January 1, 2023.]

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 7-12.1 - Uniform Partnership Act

Acquired entity: means the entity, all of one or more classes or series of interests of which are acquired in an interest exchange. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Acquiring entity: means the entity that acquires all of one or more classes or series of interests of the acquired entity in an interest exchange. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Adopt: means when an adopting party voluntarily acquires and assumes responsibility for an animal from a releasing agency that is properly licensed or registered by the department. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Adopting party: means any person who enters into a contract acquiring an animal from a releasing agency that is properly licensed or registered by the department. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
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.
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.
Animal: means any dog or cat, rabbit, rodent, nonhuman primate, bird or other warm-blooded vertebrate, amphibian, fish, or reptile but shall not include horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and domestic fowl. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Animal shelter: means a brick-and-mortar facility that is used to house or contain animals and that is owned, operated, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
animal-control officer: means any person employed, contracted, or appointed by the state, or any political subdivision of the state, for the purpose of aiding in the enforcement of this chapter or any other law or ordinance relating to the licensing of dogs, cats, or other animals; the control of dogs, cats, or other animals; or the seizure and impoundment of dogs, cats, or other animals and includes any state or municipal peace officer, animal-control officer, sheriff, constable, or other employee whose duties, in whole or in part, include assignments that involve the seizure or taking into custody of any dog, cat, or other animal. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
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.
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
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.
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}
Bequest: Property gifted by will.
Breeder: means a person engaged in the propagation of purebred or crossbred dogs and/or cats for the purpose of improving and enhancing a breed recognized and registered by the American Kennel Club, American Field Stud Book, a registered cat breed association, or for sale at wholesale or retail, unless otherwise exempted as a hobby breeder as defined below. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Broker: means any third party who arranges, delivers, or otherwise facilitates transfer of ownership of animal(s), through adoption or fostering, from one party to another, whether or not the party receives a fee for providing that service and whether or not the party takes physical possession of the animal(s) at any point. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Commercial fertilizer: means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrient(s) that is used for its plant nutrient content and that is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, except unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes and gypsum, and other products exempted by regulation of the director. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
Commercial unit: means such a unit of goods as by commercial usage is a single whole for purposes of lease and division of which materially impairs its character or value on the market or in use. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
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.
Consumer lease: means a lease that a lessor regularly engaged in the business of leasing or selling makes to a lessee who is an individual and who takes under the lease primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Conversion: means a transaction authorized by § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Converted entity: means the converting entity as it continues in existence after a conversion. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Converting entity: means the domestic entity that approves a plan of conversion pursuant to § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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.
Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
Dealer: means any person who sells, exchanges, or donates, or offers to sell, exchange, or donate, animals to another dealer, pet shop, or research facility, or who breeds animals for the purpose of selling or donating to another dealer or pet shop or research facility. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
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.
Devise: To gift property by will.
Director: means director of the department of environmental management or his or her authorized agent. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
Director: means the director of environmental management of the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Distribution: means a transfer of money or other property from a partnership to a person on account of a transferable interest or in a person's capacity as a partner. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Distributional interest: means the right under an unincorporated entity's organic law and organic rules to receive distributions from the entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Distributor: means any person who imports, consigns, manufactures, produces, compounds, mixes, or blends commercial fertilizer, or who offers for sale, sells, barters, or otherwise supplies commercial fertilizer in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
dog pound: means a facility operated by a state, or any political subdivision of a state, for the purpose of impounding or harboring seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats, and other animals or a facility operated for that purpose under a contract with any municipal corporation or incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Domesticated limited liability partnership: means a domesticating limited liability partnership as it continues in existence after a domestication. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Domesticating limited liability partnership: means the domestic limited liability partnership that approves a plan of domestication pursuant to § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Domestication: means a transaction authorized by § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Electronic transmission: means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved, and reviewed by a recipient thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a recipient through an automated process. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
enclosure: means the most proximal barrier to an animal that will have the intended purpose or effect of containment of that animal or that will effectively restrict the liberty of the animal. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
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}
Euthanasia: means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness and death during that loss of consciousness. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
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.
executed: means an original signature, facsimile, or an electronically transmitted signature submitted through a medium provided and authorized by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Fault: means wrongful act, omission, breach, or default. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
Filing entity: means an entity whose formation requires the filing of a public organic record. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Finance lease: means a lease with respect to which:

(i) The lessor does not select, manufacture, or supply the goods;

(ii) The lessor acquires the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods in connection with the lease; and

(iii) One of the following occurs:

(A) The lessee receives a copy of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods before signing the lease contract;

(B) The lessee's approval of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods is a condition to effectiveness of the lease contract;

(C) The lessee, before signing the lease contract, receives an accurate and complete statement designating the promises and warranties, and any disclaimers of warranties, limitations or modifications of remedies, or liquidated damages, including those of a third party, such as the manufacturer of the goods, provided to the lessor by the person supplying the goods in connection with or as part of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods; or

(D) If the lease is not a consumer lease, the lessor, before the lessee signs the lease contract, informs the lessee in writing (a) of the identity of the person supplying the goods to the lessor, unless the lessee has selected that person and directed the lessor to acquire the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods from that person, (b) that the lessee is entitled under this chapter to the promises and warranties, including those of any third party, provided to the lessor by the person supplying the goods in connection with or as part of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods, and (c) that the lessee may communicate with the person supplying the goods to the lessor and receive an accurate and complete statement of those promises and warranties, including any disclaimers and limitations of them or of remedies. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
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 limited liability partnership: means a foreign partnership whose partners have limited liability for the debts, obligations, or other liabilities of the foreign partnership under a provision similar to § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Foreign partnership: means an unincorporated entity formed under the law of a jurisdiction other than this state which would be a partnership if formed under the law of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
Goods: means all things that are movable at the time of identification to the lease contract, or are fixtures (§?6A-2. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Governance interest: means a right under the organic law or organic rules of an unincorporated entity, other than as a governor, agent, assignee, or proxy, to:

(i) Receive or demand access to information concerning, or the books and records of, the entity;

(ii) Vote for or consent to the election of the governors of the entity; or

(iii) Receive notice of or vote on or consent to an issue involving the internal affairs of the entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Governor: means :

(i) A director of a business corporation;

(ii) A director or trustee of a nonprofit corporation;

(iii) A general partner of a general partnership;

(iv) A general partner of a limited partnership;

(v) A manager of a manager-managed limited liability company;

(vi) A member of a member-managed limited liability company;

(vii) A director of a general cooperative association;

(viii) A director of a limited cooperative association;

(ix) A manager of an unincorporated nonprofit association;

(x) A trustee of a statutory trust, business trust, or common-law business trust; or

(xi) Any other person under whose authority the powers of an entity are exercised and under whose direction the activities and affairs of the entity are managed pursuant to the organic law and organic rules of the entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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.
Hobby breeder: means those persons whose regular occupation is not the breeding and raising of dogs and cats and whose method of sale is at retail only. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
Interest: means :

(i) A share in a business corporation;

(ii) A membership in a nonprofit corporation;

(iii) A partnership interest in a general partnership;

(iv) A partnership interest in a limited partnership;

(v) A membership interest in a limited liability company;

(vi) A share in a general cooperative association;

(vii) A member's interest in a limited cooperative association;

(viii) A membership in an unincorporated nonprofit association;

(ix) A beneficial interest in a statutory trust, business trust, or common-law business trust; or

(x) A governance interest or distributional interest in any other type of unincorporated entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Interest exchange: means a transaction authorized by § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Interest holder: means :

(i) A shareholder of a business corporation;

(ii) A member of a nonprofit corporation;

(iii) A general partner of a general partnership;

(iv) A general partner of a limited partnership;

(v) A limited partner of a limited partnership;

(vi) A member of a limited liability company;

(vii) A shareholder of a general cooperative association;

(viii) A member of a limited cooperative association;

(ix) A member of an unincorporated nonprofit association;

(x) A beneficiary or beneficial owner of a statutory trust, business trust, or common-law business trust; or

(xi) Any other direct holder of an interest. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Interest holder liability: means :

(i) Personal liability for a liability of an entity which is imposed on a person:

(A) Solely by reason of the status of the person as an interest holder; or

(B) By the organic rules of the entity which make one or more specified interest holders or categories of interest holders liable in their capacity as interest holders for all or specified liabilities of the entity; or

(ii) An obligation of an interest holder under the organic rules of an entity to contribute to the entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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}
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.
Jurisdiction of formation: means the jurisdiction whose law governs the internal affairs of an entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Kennel: means a place or establishment, other than a pound or animal shelter, or veterinary hospital that is housing animals during their treatment, where animals not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in return for a fee. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Lease: means a transfer of the right to possession and use of goods for a term in return for consideration, but a sale, including a sale on approval or a sale or return, or retention or creation of a security interest is not a lease. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
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}
Lease agreement: means the bargain, with respect to the lease, of the lessor and the lessee in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance as provided in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Lease contract: means the total legal obligation that results from the lease agreement as affected by this chapter and any other applicable rules of law. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Leasehold interest: means the interest of the lessor or the lessee under a lease contract. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Lessee: means a person who acquires the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Lessor: means a person who transfers the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
Licensed releasing agency: means any animal shelter, animal-rescue, pound, animal-control officer, or broker that is required to be licensed or registered with the director pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and is so licensed or registered. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
Merger: means a transaction authorized by § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Merging entity: means an entity that is a party to a merger and exists immediately before the merger becomes effective. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
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.
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.
Organic law: means the law of an entity's jurisdiction of formation governing the internal affairs of the entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Organic rules: means the public organic record and private organic rules of an entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Partner: means a person that:

(i) Has become a partner in a partnership under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
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.
Partnership agreement: means the agreement, whether or not referred to as a partnership agreement and whether oral, implied, in a record, or in any combination thereof, of all the partners of a partnership concerning the matters described in § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Partnership at will: means a partnership in which the partners have not agreed to remain partners until the expiration of a definite term or the completion of a particular undertaking. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Person: means an individual, business corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, unincorporated nonprofit association, statutory trust, business trust, common-law business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Person: includes individual, partnership, association, firm, and corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
Person: means any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
Personal property: All property that is not real property.
Pet shop: means an establishment where animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public at retail. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
Plan: means a plan of merger, plan of interest exchange, plan of conversion, or plan of domestication. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Plan of conversion: means a plan under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Plan of domestication: means a plan under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Plan of interest exchange: means a plan under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Plan of merger: means a plan under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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.
Principal office: means the principal executive office of a partnership or a foreign limited liability partnership, whether or not the office is located in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Private organic rules: means the rules, whether or not in a record, that govern the internal affairs of an entity, are binding on all its interest holders, and are not part of its public organic record, if any. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
Property: means all property, whether real, personal, or mixed or tangible or intangible, or any right or interest therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
Protected agreement: means :

(i) A record evidencing indebtedness and any related agreement in effect on January 1, 2023;

(ii) An agreement that is binding on an entity on January 1, 2023;

(iii) The organic rules of an entity in effect on January 1, 2023; or

(iv) An agreement that is binding on any of the governors or interest holders of an entity on January 1, 2023. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Public auction: means any place or location where dogs or cats are sold at auction to the highest bidder regardless of whether those dogs or cats are offered as individuals, as a group, or by weight. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Public organic record: means the record the filing of which by the secretary of state is required to form an entity and any amendment to or restatement of that record. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Purchase: includes taking by sale, lease, mortgage, security interest, pledge, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating an interest in goods. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
Registered agent: means an agent of a limited liability partnership or foreign limited liability partnership which is authorized to receive service of any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the partnership. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Registered foreign entity: means a foreign entity that is registered to do business in this state pursuant to a record filed by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Registered foreign limited liability partnership: means a foreign limited liability partnership that is registered to do business in this state pursuant to a statement of registration filed with the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Registrant: means the person who registers commercial fertilizer under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
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.
rescue: means an entity, without a physical brick-and-mortar facility, that is owned, operated, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals intended for adoption. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Research facility: means any place, laboratory, or institution at which scientific tests, investigations, or experiments involving the use of living animals are carried out, conducted, or attempted. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
right of contribution: means property or a benefit described in § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
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.
Sexual maturity: means when a dog or cat reaches six (6) months. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Sign: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

(i) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(ii) To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
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 Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
State veterinarian: means a licensed veterinarian from the department of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Statement of conversion: means a statement under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Statement of domestication: means a statement under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Statement of interest exchange: means a statement under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Statement of merger: means a statement under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
Sublease: means a lease of goods the right to possession and use of which was acquired by the lessor as a lessee under an existing lease. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
Supplier: means a person from whom a lessor buys or leases goods to be leased under a finance lease. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Supply contract: means a contract under which a lessor buys or leases goods to be leased. See Rhode Island General Laws 6A-2.1-103
Surviving entity: means the entity that continues in existence after or is created by a merger. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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
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.
town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
Trainer: means those persons who actively engage in the application of behavior analysis using the environmental events of antecedents and consequences to modify the behavior of an animal, either for the animal to assist in specific activities or undertake particular tasks, or for the animal to participate effectively in contemporary domestic life, and who keep, board, or retain possession of the animal for at least one overnight period, with the exception of those persons engaged in these activities for dog training programs operated by government agencies and for dog training programs operated by a not-for-profit or exempt nonprofit organization pursuant to 26 U. See Rhode Island General Laws 4-19-2
Transfer: includes :

(i) An assignment;

(ii) A conveyance;

(iii) A sale;

(iv) A lease;

(v) An encumbrance, including a mortgage or security interest;

(vi) A gift; and

(vii) A transfer by operation of law. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Transferable interest: means the right, as initially owned by a person in the person's capacity as a partner, to receive distributions from a partnership, whether or not the person remains a partner or continues to own any part of the right. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Transferee: means a person to which all or part of a transferable interest has been transferred, whether or not the transferor is a partner. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
Type of entity: means a generic form of entity:

(i) Recognized at common law; or

(ii) Formed under an organic law, whether or not some entities formed under that organic law are subject to provisions of that law that create different categories of the form of entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-1101
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: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.