Part 1 General Provisions 20-2-101 – 20-2-113
Part 2 Long-Arm Statutes 20-2-201 – 20-2-226

Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 20 > Chapter 2 - Process

  • Adjusted for inflation: means increased in accordance with the formula for inflation adjustment set forth in exhibit C to the master settlement agreement. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Administratrix: The female counterpart of an administrator. See also
  • 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.
  • Affiliate: means a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another person. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Agricultural land: means land used for agriculture, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Agriculture: means :
    (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Allocable share: means allocable share as defined in the master settlement agreement. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • 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.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Benchmark: means an index of interest rates or dividend rates that is used, in whole or in part, as the basis of, or as a reference for, calculating or determining a valuation, payment, or other measurement under or in respect of a contract, security, or instrument. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Benchmark replacement: means a benchmark, or an interest rate or dividend rate, that may be based in whole or in part on a prior setting of LIBOR, to replace LIBOR or an interest rate or dividend rate based on LIBOR, whether on a temporary, permanent, or indefinite basis, under or in respect of a contract, security, or instrument. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Bequest: Property gifted by will.
  • board of directors: means the governing board of a corporation, whether denominated the board of directors or otherwise, except that no person or group of persons is the board of directors because of powers delegated to that person or group pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • Business: includes every trade, occupation, profession, investment activity and other lawful purpose for gain or the preservation of assets whether or not carried on for profits. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Bylaws: means the code or codes of rules (other than the charter) adopted pursuant to chapters 51-68 of this title for the regulation or management of the affairs of the corporation irrespective of the name or names by which such rules are designated. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • Calculating person: means , with respect to a contract, security, or instrument, a person responsible for calculating or determining a valuation, payment, or other measurement based on a benchmark, and may be the determining person. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Charter: includes amended and restated charters and articles of merger. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Cigarette: includes "roll-your-own" (i. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • 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.
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Court: includes every court and judge having jurisdiction in the case. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • 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.
  • delivery: means any method of delivery used in conventional commercial practice, including delivery by hand, mail, commercial delivery, and, if authorized in accordance with §. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Determining person: means , with respect to a contract, security, or instrument, in the following order of priority:
    (A) A person so specified. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Directors: means natural persons, designated in the charter or bylaws or elected or appointed by the incorporators, and their successors and natural persons elected or appointed to act as members of the board, irrespective of the names or titles by which such persons are described. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • Disbursement of loan funds: means the delivery of the loan funds by the mortgage lender to the settlement agent in one (1) or more of the following forms:
    (A) Cash. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Document: means :
    (A) Any tangible medium on which information is inscribed, and includes any writing or written instrument. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • domestic corporation: means a corporation for profit, which is not a foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the Tennessee Business Corporation Act, compiled in chapters 11-27 of this title, as amended. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Employee: includes an officer but not a director. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Entity: includes the following, whether foreign or domestic: LLCs. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • 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.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Executor: includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Executrix: The female counterpart of an executor. See also
  • Fallback provisions: means terms in a contract, security, or instrument that set forth a methodology or procedure for determining a benchmark replacement, including terms relating to the date on which the benchmark replacement becomes effective, without regard to whether a benchmark replacement can be determined in accordance with the methodology or procedure. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Financial institution: means a bank, savings and loan association, or credit union, the accounts of which are insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation or the national credit union administration. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • 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.
  • Governing body: means the board of governors in the case of a board-managed LLC, the members in the case of a member-managed LLC, and the board of directors in the case of a corporation. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
  • Individual: includes the estate of an incompetent or deceased individual. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Interest: means either or both of the following rights under the organic law of an unincorporated entity:
    (A) The right to receive distributions from the entity either in the ordinary course or upon liquidation. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • 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.
  • Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • LIBOR: means , for purposes of the application of this chapter to a particular contract, security, or instrument, United States dollar LIBOR, formerly known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, as administered by ICE Benchmark Administration Limited, or a predecessor or successor thereof, and a tenor thereof, as applicable, that is used in making a calculation or determination thereunder. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Loan closing: means that time agreed upon by the borrower and lender, when the execution of the loan documents by the borrower occurs. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Loan documents: means the note evidencing the debt due the lender, the deed of trust, or mortgage securing the debt due to the lender, and any other documents required by the lender to be executed by the borrower as a part of the transaction. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Loan funds: means the gross or net proceeds of the loan to be disbursed by the lender, in one (1) of the forms identified in subdivision (3), at loan closing. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Manager: means a person elected, appointed, or otherwise designated as a manager by the governing body, and any other person considered elected as a manager pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Master settlement agreement: means the settlement agreement, and related documents, entered into in the fall of 1998 by the state and leading United States tobacco product manufacturers. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Member: means a person reflected in the required records of an LLC as the owner of some governance rights of a membership interest of the LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Month: means the time from any day of any month to the corresponding day of the succeeding month, if any, and if none, the last day of the succeeding month. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Mortgage: means a "mortgage" or "deed of trust" as defined in and allowed pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgage lender: includes a "mortgage loan broker" and "mortgage loan servicer". See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Mortgage loan: means any loan secured by a mortgage, intended for any purpose. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
  • Mortgage loan servicer: means any person who, in the regular course of business, assumes responsibility for servicing and accepting payments for a mortgage loan. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) Source: OCC
  • Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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.
  • Official: means an agent, employee, member, or representative of a local governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 7-68-102
  • 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.
  • Person: includes individual and entity. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • person: means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation or any other organization or group of persons. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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.
  • Principal office: means the office (in or out of this state) so designated in the annual report where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Probate court: means the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estates of decedents. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • quarantine: means the limitation of a person's freedom of movement, isolation of a person, or preventing or restricting access to premises upon which the person or the cause or source of a disease may be found, for a period of time as may be necessary to confirm or establish a diagnosis, to determine the cause or source of a disease, or to prevent the spread of a disease. See Tennessee Code 68-1-201
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Recommended benchmark replacement: means a benchmark replacement based on SOFR, including a recommended spread adjustment and benchmark replacement conforming changes, that has been selected or recommended by a relevant recommending body with respect to the type of contract, security, or instrument. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Recommended spread adjustment: means a spread adjustment, or method for calculating or determining the spread adjustment, that:
    (A) Has been selected or recommended by a relevant recommending body for a recommended benchmark replacement for a particular type of contract, security, or instrument and for a particular term to account for the effects of the transition or change from LIBOR to a recommended benchmark replacement. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Registered office: means the place in this state designated in the articles as the registered office of the LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Released claims: means released claims as defined in the master settlement agreement. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Releasing parties: means releasing parties as defined in the master settlement agreement. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Relevant recommending body: means the federal reserve board, the federal reserve bank of New York, or the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, or a successor to those entities. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • Representative: means a governor, manager, employee or other agent of a foreign LLC. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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.
  • Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Source: OCC
  • Savings and loan association: includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor of such corporation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the bylaws or the board of directors has delegated responsibility under §. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Secretary of state: means the person who holds the office of secretary of state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: means the time when the settlement agent has received the duly executed deed, loan funds, loan documents, and other documents and funds required to carry out the terms of the contract between the parties, and the settlement agent reasonably determines that prerecordation conditions of such contracts have been satisfied. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • 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.
  • Settlement agent: means the person, other than a mortgage lender, responsible for conducting the settlement and disbursement of the settlement proceeds, and includes any individual, corporation, partnership, or other entity conducting the settlement, collection and disbursement of loan proceeds. See Tennessee Code 47-32-102
  • Share: means the unit into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or the beneficial owner of shares to the extent of the rights granted by a nominee certificate on file with a corporation. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • SOFR: means with respect to a day, the secured overnight financing rate published for that day by the federal reserve bank of New York, as the administrator of the benchmark, or a successor administrator, on the federal reserve bank of New York's website. See Tennessee Code 47-33-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Tobacco product manufacturer: means an entity that after May 26, 1999, directly and not exclusively through any affiliate:
    (i) Manufactures cigarettes anywhere that such manufacturer intends to be sold in the United States, including cigarettes intended to be sold in the United States through an importer (except where such importer is an original participating manufacturer (as defined in the master settlement agreement), that will be responsible for the payments under the master settlement agreement with respect to such cigarettes as a result of subsection II(mm) of the master settlement agreement and that pays the taxes specified in subsection II(z) of the master settlement agreement, and provided that the manufacturer of such cigarettes does not market or advertise such cigarettes in the United States). See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • 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 several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes district, authority, bureau, commission, department, and any other agency of the United States. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Units sold: means the number of individual cigarettes sold to a consumer in the state by the applicable tobacco product manufacturer, whether directly or through a distributor, retailer, or similar intermediary or intermediaries, during the year in question regardless of whether the state excise tax was due or collected. See Tennessee Code 47-31-102
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: means any information in the form of a document. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105