Family Law - Definitions

petitioner

the party who makes a request to court to get divorced

respondent

the party agaist whom the divorce proceedings is brought

Family

a basic social unit, a group of people related to each other by blood or law

family law

an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations

valid marriage

marriage that meets all the requirements of law

void marriage

marriage which is invalid from its beginning

voidable marriage

marriage which lacks some legal requirements and can be canceled by a petition

fault divorce / contested divorce

termination of marriage in which one party blames the other for the failure of their marriage

no-fault divorce / uncontested divorce

termination of a marriage by agreement, on the grounds of irreconcilable differences or incompatibility

joint custody

an arrangement whereby both parents continue to make decisions regarding the child's religious training, education, medical treatment and upbringing. It does not involve the amount of time that the child spends with each parent. It solely addresses the legal responsibility that each parent has.

sole custody

an arrangement whereby only one parent has physical and legal custody of a child

bird's nest custody

a share custody arrangement whereby the parents go back and forth from a residence in which the child/children reside

third-party custody

an arrangement whereby the children do not remain with either biological parent, and are placed under the custody of a another person

split custody

an arrangement whereby one parent has full time custody over some children, and the other parent has full-time custody over the other children

community property

the property of spouses gained together

separate property

the property possessed solely by one of the spouses, may be acquired by a gift or bequeathed

misrepresentation

deceiving someone by giving a false or misleading information

marriage

a legally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship

ligitimate

(of a child) born to parents lawfully married to each other

illegitimate

(of a child) born to parents not lawfully married to each other

to petition for divorce

to ask the court to terminate the valid marriage

to petition for annulment/nullification

to ask the court to cancel your marriage from the very beginning

divorce

the legal dissolution of a valid marriage by a court

annulment/nullification of marriage

a legal termination of marriage concluding that the marriage never existed

to divorce

to terminate a valid marriage by court

to marry

to take someone as one's wife or husband

to nullify/annul (a marriage), to declare (a marriage) null and void

to cancel (a marriage) from its beginning

grounds

reasons (for divorce)

to commit adultery

to have a sexual relationship outside the marriage

cohabitation

(of a couple) living together without being married

to cohabit

(of a couple) to live together without being married

shared custody

an arrangement whereby both parents have legal custody and both parents have physical custody. It allows the child to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents. It generally means that each parent has physical custody of the children 50 percent of the time, such that the child's time and interaction is equally divided between the parents.