Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 15 > Chapter 39 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• clerk: as used in this title , signifies the clerk of the court where the action is pending and, in the Supreme Court or the court of appeals, the clerk of the county mentioned in the title of the complaint or in another county to which the court may have changed the place of trial, unless otherwise specified. See South Carolina Code 15-1-60
• 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.
• 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.
• Coroner: means the person defined in § 17-5-5(3). See South Carolina Code 25-12-20
• 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.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Disposition: means disposal of cremated remains by placement in a tomb, mausoleum, crypt, columbarium, or by burial in a cemetery. See South Carolina Code 25-12-20
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• foreign government: as used in this chapter shall be deemed to include any government, faction or body of insurgents within a country with which the United States is at peace, whether such government, faction or body of insurgents has or has not been recognized by the United States as a government. See South Carolina Code 25-7-10
• 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.
• mortuary: means as defined in § 40-19-20. See South Carolina Code 25-12-20
• National cemetery: means a cemetery under the control of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. See South Carolina Code 25-12-20
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• personal property: as used in this Title , include money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt. See South Carolina Code 15-1-40
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• property: as used in this Title , includes both real and personal property. See South Carolina Code 15-1-50
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• 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.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veteran: means a person who has:
  
  (a) served on active duty in the uniformed military services of the United States;
  
  (b) served on active duty in the National Guard or any organized state militia; or
  
  (c) served in the reserve components of the uniformed military services of the United States on active duty; and
  
  (d) was released from this service other than by dishonorable discharge. See South Carolina Code 25-12-20