Terms Used In Texas Business and Commerce Code 71.002

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

In this chapter:
(1) “Address” means:
(A) a post office address; and
(B) a street address, if the street address is not the same as the post office address.
(2) “Assumed name” means:
(A) for an individual, a name that does not include the surname of the individual;
(B) for a partnership, a name that does not include the surname or other legal name of each joint venturer or general partner;
(C) for an individual or a partnership, a name, including a surname, that suggests the existence of additional owners by including words such as “Company,” “& Company,” “& Son,” “& Sons,” “& Associates,” “Brothers,” and similar words, but not words that merely describe the business being conducted or the professional service being rendered;
(D) for a limited partnership, a name other than the name stated in its certificate of formation;
(E) for a company, a name used by the company;
(F) for a corporation, a name other than the name stated in its certificate of formation or a comparable document;
(G) for a limited liability partnership, a name other than the name stated in its application filed with the office of the secretary of state or a comparable document;
(H) for a limited liability company, a name other than the name stated in its certificate of formation or a comparable document, including the name of any protected series of the limited liability company established by its company agreement if the name of the protected series does not include the name of the limited liability company stated in the limited liability company’s certificate of formation or a comparable document; and
(I) for a registered series of a domestic limited liability company, a name other than the name stated in its certificate of registered series.
(3) “Certificate” means an assumed name certificate.
(4) “Company” means a real estate investment trust, a joint-stock company, or any other business, professional, or other association or legal entity that is not incorporated, other than a partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, registered series of a limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or foreign filing entity.
(5) “Corporation” means:
(A) a domestic or foreign corporation, professional corporation, professional association, or other corporation; or
(B) any other business, professional, or other association or legal entity that is incorporated.
(6) “Estate” means a person‘s property that is administered by a representative.
(6-a) “Foreign filing entity” means an entity formed under the laws of a jurisdiction other than this state that registers or is required by law to register with the secretary of state to conduct business or render professional services in this state under Chapter 9, Business Organizations Code.
(7) “Office” means, for a person that is not an individual, the person’s principal office in this state or outside of this state, as applicable.
(8) “Partnership” means a joint venture or general partnership other than a limited partnership or a limited liability partnership.
(9) “Person” includes an individual, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, registered series of a limited liability company, limited liability partnership, company, corporation, or foreign filing entity.
(10) “Registrant” means a person who has filed, or on whose behalf there has been filed, a certificate under this chapter or other law.
(11) “Representative” means a trustee, administrator, executor, independent executor, guardian, conservator, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or other person appointed by a court or by trust or will to have custody of, take possession of, have title to, or otherwise be empowered to control the person or property of any person.