Terms Used In Texas Special District Local Laws Code Chapter 3979 - Montgomery County Management District No. 1

• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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}
• Child: includes an adopted child, regardless of whether the adoption occurred through:
  (1) an existing or former statutory procedure; or
  (2) an equitable adoption or acts of estoppel. See Texas Estates Code 22.004
• 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
• 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.
• Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• 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
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• 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
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• lien: include :
  (1) a deed of trust;
  (2) a vendor's lien, a mechanic's, materialman's, or laborer's lien, an attachment or garnishment lien, and a federal or state tax lien;
  (3) a chattel mortgage;
  (4) a judgment; and
  (5) a pledge by hypothecation. See Texas Estates Code 22.024
• 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
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• 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 a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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
• Probate: Proving a will
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: includes estates and interests in land, whether corporeal or incorporeal or legal or equitable. See Texas Estates Code 22.030
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• 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 25, Government Code. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Surety: includes a personal surety and a corporate surety. See Texas Estates Code 22.032
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
• Year: means 12 consecutive months. See Texas Government Code 311.005