Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 1001 - Department of State Health Services

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Affidavit: means a statement in writing of a fact or facts signed by the party making it, sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and officially certified to by the officer under his seal of office. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Claims: includes :
  (1) liabilities of a decedent that survive the decedent's death, including taxes, regardless of whether the liabilities arise in contract or tort or otherwise;
  (2) funeral expenses;
  (3) the expense of a tombstone;
  (4) expenses of administration;
  (5) estate and inheritance taxes; and
  (6) debts due such estates. See Texas Estates Code 22.005
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Court: means and includes:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
  (3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Devisee: includes a legatee. See Texas Estates Code 22.009
• Distributee: means a person who is entitled to a part of the estate of a decedent under a lawful will or the statutes of descent and distribution. See Texas Estates Code 22.010
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Docket: means the probate docket. See Texas Estates Code 22.011
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
  (1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
  (2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
  (3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012
• Exempt property: means the property in a decedent's estate that is exempt from execution or forced sale by the constitution or laws of this state, and any allowance paid instead of that property. See Texas Estates Code 22.013
• Felony: A crime carrying a penalty of more than a year in prison.
• 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.
• Heir: means a person who is entitled under the statutes of descent and distribution to a part of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate. See Texas Estates Code 22.015
• Independent executor: means the personal representative of an estate under independent administration as provided by Chapter Texas Estates Code 22.017
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Judge: means the presiding judge of any court having original jurisdiction over probate proceedings, regardless of whether the court is:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise probate jurisdiction; or
  (3) a district court exercising probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.019
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Minor: means a person younger than 18 years of age who:
  (1) has never been married; and
  (2) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. See Texas Estates Code 22.022
• Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
• Month: means a calendar month. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Next of kin: includes :
  (1) an adopted child or the adopted child's descendants; and
  (2) the adoptive parent of the adopted child. See Texas Estates Code 22.026
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
• person interested: means :
  (1) an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, or any other having a property right in or claim against an estate being administered; and
  (2) anyone interested in the welfare of an incapacitated person, including a minor. See Texas Estates Code 22.018
• Personal property: includes an interest in:
  (1) goods;
  (2) money;
  (3) a chose in action;
  (4) an evidence of debt; and
  (5) a real chattel. See Texas Estates Code 22.028
• personal representative: include :
  (1) an executor and independent executor;
  (2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
  (3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031
• Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statutory probate court: means a court created by statute and designated as a statutory probate court under Chapter Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Surety: includes a personal surety and a corporate surety. See Texas Estates Code 22.032
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Will: includes :
  (1) a codicil; and
  (2) a testamentary instrument that merely:
  (A) appoints an executor or guardian;
  (B) directs how property may not be disposed of; or
  (C) revokes another will. See Texas Estates Code 22.034