Glossary of Legal Terms
- Action. The legal term for a lawsuit.
- Affidavit. A written statement of facts made under oath and signed before a notary public.
- A.D.R. Alternative Dispute Resolution. Settlement techniques used to resolve a case without a trial.
- Agreement A transcribed or written resolution of the disputed issues when the parties have resolved issues in the case. Sometimes called a Stipulation.
- Alimony: Payment of support from one party to another; in some states may include property division and attorney’s fees. See also Maintenance.
- Alimony pendente lite: A temporary order of court that provides support for one spouse and/or children while the divorce is in progress.
- Allegation: Statement contained in a pleading or affidavit setting forth what the pleader intends to prove.
- Annulment: The legal ending of an invalid marriage; according to law, neither party was ever married, but all children born of the annulled marriage remain legitimate. Grounds for annulment vary from state to state.
- Answer: The second pleading in a divorce, separation, or annulment, which is served in response to the petition for divorce and which admits or denies the petition’s allegations and may also make claims against the other party. Sometimes called a Response.
- Appeal: The process whereby a higher court reviews the proceedings resulting in an order or judgment of a lower court and determines whether there was reversible error.
- Appearance: A respondent’s formal method of telling the court that he or she submits to the court’s jurisdiction. Appearance also can refer to a party’s physical presence in court.
- Change of venue: A change of the place within the state where the case is to be tried.
- Child support: Financial support for a child (not taxable to the recipient or deductible to the payor spouse).
- Common-law marriage: A relationship between a man and a woman, recognized as a marriage in some states, although no license or ceremony was involved. A divorce is required to terminate a common-law marriage.
- Community property: Generally, property acquired during a marriage as a result of the parties’ work and effort. Applied in states known as community-property states.
- Contempt of court: The willful and intentional failure to comply with a court order, judgment, or decree by a party to the action, which may be punishable in a variety of ways.
- Contested case: Any case in which the court must decide one or more disputed issues.
- Court order: A written document issued by a court, which becomes effective only when signed by a judge.
- Cross-examination: The questioning of a witness by the opposing party during a trial or at a deposition, to test the truth of that testimony or to develop it.
- Custody: The legal right and responsibility awarded by a court for the care, possession, and rearing of a child. Distinctions are sometimes made between legal custody, which relates to decision making responsibility, and physical custody, which relates to residence or physical access.
- Default or default judgment: An order or judgment granted by a court without hearing the other side because that side failed to submit papers within the time allowed or failed to appear at a hearing.
- Defendant (respondent): The person (husband or wife) who is sued for divorce.
- Deposition: The testimony of a witness taken out of court under oath and in writing.
- Direct examination: The initial questioning in court of a witness by the lawyer who called him or her to the stand.
- Disclosure, discover, or production of documents: Procedures followed by lawyers to determine the nature, scope, and credibility of the opposing party’s claim and his or her financial status.
- Dissolution: The act of terminating a marriage; divorce; does not include annulment.
- Emancipation: The point at which a child may be treated as an adult and in some states when the duty to support may terminate.
- Equitable distribution of property: A system of distributing property in connection with a divorce or dissolution proceeding on the basis of a variety of factors without regard to who holds title.
- Evidence: Documents, testimony, or other demonstrative material offered to the court to prove or disprove allegations.
- Ex parte: An application for court relief made without the other party being present. In some states the other party is present but has been given very short notice of the application.
- Grounds: In the eyes of the law (under statute), the reason for granting a divorce.
- Guardian ad litem (GAL): A lawyer or mental health professional appointed by the court to represent the children.
- Hearing: Any proceeding before the court for the purpose of resolving disputed issues through presentation of testimony, offers of proof, and argument.
- Hold-harmless: A situation in which one spouse assumes liability for a debt or other obligation and promises to protect the other spouse from any loss or expense in connection with it.
- Indemnification: The promise to reimburse another person in case of an anticipated loss; the same as hold-harmless.
- Injunction: A court order forbidding someone from committing a particular act that is likely to cause injury or property loss to another party; the same as a restraining order.
- Interrogatories: A series of written questions served on the opposing party to discover certain facts regarding the disputed issues in a matrimonial proceeding. The answer to interrogatories must be under oath and served within a prescribed time.
- Joint custody: The shared right and responsibility of both parents awarded by the court for possession, care, and rearing of the children.
- Joint property: Property held in the name of more than one person.
- Jurisdiction: The authority of the court to rule on issues relating to the parties, their children, or their property.
- Legal separation: A court judgment or written agreement directing or authorizing spouses to live separate and apart. A decree of separation does not dissolve the marriage or allow the parties to remarry, but may resolve all financial claims.
- Maintenance: Spousal support. See also alimony.
- Marital property: Accumulated income and property acquired by spouses, subject to certain exclusions in some states.
- Marital settlement agreement: The parties’ settlement is reduced to a written document or orally placed on the record in open court. This agreement also may be called a property settlement agreement or separation agreement.
- Mediation: A process by which a neutral third party facilitates negotiations between the parties. The mediator generally has no decision-making authority.
- Motion: A written application to the court for some particular relief, such as temporary support, injunction, or attorney’s or expert’s fees.
- Motion to modify: A party’s formal written request to the court to change a prior order regarding custody, child support, alimony, or any other order that the court may change by law.
- Motion to vacate the premises: Upon a showing of good cause by one party, the court orders the other spouse to leave the marital residence.
- No-fault divorce: When divorce is granted without a party having to prove the other party’s marital misconduct. “Fault” is marital misconduct that may be considered for some issues in some states.
- Notice of hearing: A paper that is served on the opposing lawyer or spouse listing the date and place of a hearing and the motion or motions that will be heard by the court.
- Order: The court’s ruling on a motion requiring the parties to do certain things or setting forth their rights and responsibilities. An order is reduced to writing, signed by the judge, and filed with the court.
- Party: The person in a divorce action whose rights or interests will be affected by the divorce.
- Petition (compliant): The first pleading in an action for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment, setting forth the allegations on which the requested relief is based.
- Petitioner (plaintiff): The party who files the petition for divorce or any other petition.
- Plaintiff: The petitioner.
- Pleading: Formal written application to the court for relief and the written response to it.
- Pleadings include petitions, answers, counterclaims, replies, and motions.
- Privilege: The right of a person to make statements to his or her spouse or lawyer,
- member of the clergy, psychiatrist, doctor, or certified social worker that are not later admissible in evidence.
- Pro se: A litigant who is not represented by a lawyer (also “pro per”).
- Relief: Whatever a party to a divorce proceeding asks the court to do: dissolve the marriage, award support, enforce a prior court order or decree, divide property, enjoin certain behavior, dismiss the complaint of the other party, and so on.
- Reply: The pleading filed in answer to the allegations of a counterclaim.
- Report of referee with notice: The written document prepared by a referee or court-appointed officer after a hearing and submitted to the parties (husband and wife) and the judge; it is not law and not final or an order of the court, but it is recommended to become an order of the court.
- Respondent (defendant): The one who defends the divorce proceeding brought by another.
- Request for production of documents: A series of written requests served on the other party seeking the production of documents, such as financial records. Responses must be provided within a fixed time.
- Rules of evidence: The rules that govern the presentation and admissibility of oral and documentary evidence at court hearings or depositions.
- Separate property: Property that is not “marital property” but belongs only to one spouse.
- Set off: A debt or financial obligation of one spouse that is deducted from the debt or financial obligation of the other spouse.
- Settlement: The agreed resolution of disputed issues.
- Show cause: Written application to the court for some type of relief, which is made on such notice to the other party as the court directs.
- Stipulation: An agreement between the parties or their counsel.
- Subpoena: A document served on a party or witness requiring appearance in court.
- Failure to comply with the subpoena could result in punishment by the court. A subpoena duces tecum is a subpoena requesting documents.
- Summons: A written notification that legal action has commenced, requiring a response within a specified time period.
- Temporary or pendente lite motions: Applications to the court for interim relief pending the final decree of divorce, separation, or annulment. Typical temporary motions include
- Temporary restraining orders (TRO): An order of the court prohibiting a party from doing something—for example, threatening, harassing, or beating the other spouse or the children, selling personal property, withdrawing money from accounts, denying access to a motor vehicle.
- Testimony: Statements under oath by a witness in court or during a deposition.
- Transcript: A typewritten record of testimony taken by a court reporter during a deposition or court.
- Trial: A formal court hearing to decide disputed issues raised by the pleadings.
- Uncontested divorce: A divorce proceeding in which the parties have reached an agreement on all issues.
