Divorce Definitions

Residual Physical Custodial Rights A custody agreement when one parent is awarded visitation by a pre-arranged schedule worked out between the parents or the courts. Domestic Violence Petition This form serves as your application for a protective order; after obtaining one from the courthouse clerk, completing and returning it, it will be reviewed by a judge. Legal Separation A court order arranging the terms (custody, support, etc.) under which a married couple will live separately. This addresses the same issues as divorce, but does not completely dissolve the marriage. Buccal Swab A recognized form of genetic testing used to determine paternity, which involves a q-tip type instrument for collecting saliva from individuals submitting to testing. Joint custody A form of child custody that grants both parents joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or both joint legal custody and joint physical custody. Mediation A non-adversarial process in which a neutral third party acts to encourage and help disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable agreement. May not be a good option when domestic violence is present. Reasonable visitation A form of visitation in which the parents work out a schedule of visitation for the non-custodial parent. Paternity The determination of who the father of a child is in order to arrange child custody and child support in the event of a divorce. Rehabilitative Alimony Rehabilitative alimony refers to alimony that is given to a spouse so that the spouse may “rehabilitate” herself or himself in the sense of acquiring greater earning power or training in order to become self-supporting. Age of Majority Attained upon one's eighteenth birthday. However, a child support order will remain in effect beyond attainment of eighteen as long as the child continuously attends an accredited high school on a full time basis, the child is determined to be mentally or physically disabled by the court, or both parents have agreed to continue support after the age of 18 and it is incorporated in a divorce decree.

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	Did You Know?
	An annulment is a court ruling that a supposed marriage was never valid. One of the most common grounds for annulment is fraud. For example, one person may have not disclosed to the other a prior divorce, a criminal record, or an unwillingness to have sexual intercourse. An annulment also may be granted may if one of the parties to the "marriage” was still married to someone else at the time of the marriage that is at issue. Other bases for annulments include marriage of an underage person, marriage to too close a blood relative, and marriage by a person under duress as the time of marriage.