Glossary Cart

and Definations

Action: A lawsuit or proceeding in a court of law.

Affidavit: A written statement made under oath, often as part of a divorce proceeding. In a divorce proceeding, Affidavits usually accompany motions and are used to avoid having to appear in court personally to testify.

Alimony: or Spousal maintenance is the payment of support for one spouse provided by the other spouse from the future income or earnings of the paying spouse. Alimony usually terminates upon the death of either spouse or the remarriage of the person receiving spousal maintenance. Payments received are usually taxable to the spouse who receives the maintenance, and deductible by the spouse who pays.

Allegations: The claims or charges against the other person which are made in a lawsuit.

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): A phrase used to describe methods of resolving divorce disputes rather than going to court. Also sometimes referred to as “ADR” or “low conflict resolution”.

Annulment: A legal decree that makes a marriage null and void.

Answer: A written response to a petition issued by the Respondent, usually accompanied by a counter petition setting forth the basis for the petition and the relief that is sought by the Respondent.

Appeal: When one person disagrees with a decision made by a trial judge and asks the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court to review that decision. This is a formal legal proceeding and requires immediate action.

Arbitration: An alternative in which parties agree to have a neutral person make decisions in matters relating to their case. The parties can stipulate to make the arbitrators decisions binding. Usually the decision cannot be appealed.

Arrearages: The deficit in the amount of spousal maintenance or child support paid and the amount required by a court order.

Assignment: The transfer of a right or interest in property from one person to another.

Attorney of record: An attorney that is officially representing a party in a proceeding. An attorney of record is generally authorized to perform certain functions on behalf of a party, including receiving service of papers.

Award: A decision by a court in a lawsuit to compensate a person in some fashion.

Brief: A written presentation of a party’s position.

Cause of Action: The legal theories upon which a lawsuit is based, sometimes referred to as a Claim or charge.

Child (Minor Child): An individual under 18 years of age, an individual who is under 20 years of age and who is still attending high school, or a child who, by reason of physical or mental condition is incapable of self support.

Child Support: The amount of money one parent pays to the other parent to help pay for the everyday needs of the children, including housing, food, and clothing.

Child Support Guidelines: The amount of child support to be paid under normal circumstances when one parent has primary physical custody, when one parent has primary physical custody, according to a schedule established by the State. 

Collaborative Law: Collaborative law is a way of practicing law whereby the attorneys for both of the parties in a family dispute agree to assist them in resolving conflict using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques and litigation. Early non-adversarial participation by the attorneys allows them to use attributes of good lawyering not greatly utilized in the usual adversarial proceedings, namely use of analysis and reasoning to solve problems, generation of options, and creation of a positive context for settlement.

Contested Divorce: One party opposes the other because he or she disagrees with the other party on some of the issues of the divorce such as property, child custody, child support, spousal maintenance, assumption of debts, etc.  When all legal issues are agreed upon it is considered an uncontested divorce. The lack of dispute may be because the other spouse is missing, refuses to participate in the proceeding, or agrees with the other spouse on all issues.

Custodial Parent: When physical custody language is used, the parent who has physical custody of a child at any particular time.

Custody: The legal right and responsibility awarded by the Court for the care of the child that fall into either legal or physical.  See Joint Physical and Joint Legal Custody.

Defendant: The person who defends against a lawsuit brought against him or her by another. The Defendant may also be called the Respondent.

Deposition: When a party or witness is asked questions under oath in the presence of a court reporter who prepares a transcript of the questions and the answers. A deposition is usually conducted in a lawyer’s office without a judge present. A court stenographer takes down everything that is said and later types it up in a transcript to be reviewed by the parties and their attorneys.

Discovery:  The process by which one party obtains information from the other party through things such as interrogatories and requests for the production of documents and depositions.

Divorce: A legal judgment that severs the marriage of two people and restores them to the status of single persons. Also called a dissolution of marriage.

Divorce decree: The court order that grants the divorce and outlines the determination of the issues in the dissolution. Also referred to as a final decree or the Findings of Fact, Conclusion of Law, Order to Judgment and Judgment and Decree.

Equitable Distribution: The division of property acquired during the marriage that may include marital debts.

Egregious:  Extremely or remarkably bad; flagrant, behavior.

Family Court – A court that handles non-criminal family matters such as divorce.

Guardian ad Litem: A person assigned to protect the specific interests of the children.

Grounds: Legally sufficient reasons why a person is entitled to a divorce. Almost all states today, including Michigan, are no fault states in which it is not necessary to state grounds for a divorce.

Hearing: Any proceeding before a court where testimony is given or arguments are heard.

Joint Legal Custody: A form of custody where both parents have equal rights and responsibilities, including the right to participate in major decisions determining the child’s up-bringing including education, health care, and religious training.

Joint Physical Custody: A form of custody of minor children in which the parents share the actual physical custody of the child. The time spent living with each individual parent is structured between the parties. Joint physical custody does not require that there be an equal sharing of time.

Joint property: Property that is held or titled in the name of more than one person.

Judgment and Decree: The document that actually grants the divorce and which generally identifies the ruling or agreement on other issues such as custody, child support, spousal maintenance, and property division.

Jurisdiction: The power or authority of a court to rule in a particular case. A court must have jurisdiction over both the subject matter of the case, and the people involved in the dispute, in order to have the authority to hear a case and make binding decisions.

Legal Separation: A court determination of rights and responsibilities of a husband and wife without dissolving the marriage.

Marital Property: All property acquired during the course of the marriage regardless of who owns it or who has title to it. Includes property such as houses, real estate, pensions, stocks, bonds, and household goods. Marital property does not generally include property that was acquired by either spouse prior to the marriage.

Mediation: A process in which an impartial third party facilitates and seeks agreement between the parties.  Arbitration is when the mediator can make binding decisions.

Motion: A request one party makes for some type of action or decision to be made by the Court.

No-Fault Divorce: A type of divorce which may be granted without the necessity of showing that either spouse was guilty of some form of marital misconduct.  Michigan law follows the No-Fault Divorce.

Non-custodial Parent: In a situation where one parent has primary physical custody, the other parent is deemed to be the non-custodial parent, since that parent does not have the children half of the time.

Non-marital property:  Generally, non-marital property consists of property acquired prior to a marriage and property acquired by individual gift or inheritance either before or during a marriage.

Order: A court’s official ruling on some matter before it. A court order will be in writing and signed by the judge.

Order for Protection: An order issued in a domestic abuse action where one party is ordered to refrain from contact with another party.

Parenting Time:  The time a child spends with a parent according to a court order or agreement.

Party: A person directly involved in a lawsuit; either a plaintiff/petitioner or a defendant/respondent.

Perjury: The act of lying under oath.

Physical Custody: The determination of where the child will spend most of his or her time. Also said to have the care, custody and control of the daily activities of the child. Physical custody considers the routine daily care and control, and residence of the child.

Plaintiff: The person who initiates a lawsuit by filing a complaint with the court. The plaintiff is also called the Petitioner.

Pleading: Any formal written document filed with a court which requests action by the court. Includes complaints, petitions, answers to the complaint, responses to a petition, motions, etc.

Post Divorce Proceedings:  Term used to describe differences that arise between two divorced parties after the marriage is dissolved.

Praecipe – A writ commanding the Clerk of Court to issue a subpoena or summons. Generally used to schedule a hearing.

Prenuptial Agreement: A written contract entered into by a couple who intends to marry but want to establish, before the marriage, their rights in the event of death or divorce during marriage. Such a document generally limits a spouse’s rights to property, support, or inheritance upon divorce. 

Pretrial Conference: A pretrial conference is a meeting in which the parties and their attorneys meet for the purpose of trying to obtain a settlement. The conference is normally moderated by a judge or referee who is handling the matter. If the case cannot be settled and the matter gets set for trial, a pretrial order is issued.

Primary Caretaker: The parent who provides the majority of the day-to-day care for a minor child.

Pro Se: A party which is representing himself or herself in the proceedings.

QDRO: Qualified Domestic Relations Order. A separate order often used to divide a pension or a retirement plan owned by a spouse.

Request for the Production of Documents: A written request issued from one party to the other, asking that certain documents be produced to allow them to obtain information necessary for resolving divorce issues.

Residence: The place where a party has established a permanent home from which the party has no present intention of moving.

Response: The formal document filed by a respondent in answer to the allegations in a petition. This is also called an answer.

Retainer: A payment made to an attorney to secure his or her services. The retainer is placed in a trust account and, as the attorney works, the charges are deducted from the retainer until the money is used up. After the money is used up the attorney would usually bill on a weekly or monthly basis, or would ask for a new retainer.

Referee:  A judicial officer working as part of the Friend of the court who presides in a manner of a judge for the purpose of saving court time.  Initial meetings before the Referee are often without legal counsel.  The Decisions by the referee are subject to possible review by the judge.

Restraining Order:  A court order signed by the Judge restricting or prohibiting one from being in contact or close proximity to another.

Service of Process: The actual act of presenting the defendant or respondent in a lawsuit with a summons notifying him or her of the lawsuit. Also generally includes providing the defendant or respondent with a copy of the actual complaint or petition in the lawsuit. The service of process is done either personally or through the mail.

Settlement Agreement: The legal written version of a settlement that resolves certain issues.

Sole Custody: Also referred to as primary custody. When one parent has the primary decision making authority or has the children with them during most of the time. Contrasted with joint custody.

Subpoena: A document which is served upon (delivered to) a persons who is not directly involved in a lawsuit, requesting that he or she appear in court to give testimony.

Summons: A document which is served upon (delivered to) a person who is named as a defendant or respondent in a lawsuit. The summons notifies the person that the lawsuit has been filed against him or her and tells them that they have a certain time limit in which to file an answer or respond.  It generally requires both parties to keep things status quo until the disputed issues are resolved.  A Temporary Court Order would last until the divorce is finalized.

Transcript: The written presentation of testimony given at trial or at a deposition.