Family
“the crème de la crème of family law” Chambers & Partners
Family law dictionary
A B C D E F I J L M N P R S T U V W
Acknowledgement of service – a form which has to be filled in and returned to confirm receipt of the divorce petition
Affidavit – a statement of facts, which has been sworn on oath to be true by the person making it, normally in front of a solicitor, also sometimes known as a sworn statement
Ancillary relief – the range of financial orders which the court has power to make on divorce
Answer – a response to a divorce petition – only necessary if the divorce is being defended
Ante–nuptial agreement – see pre–nuptial agreement
Applicant – the person applying to the court for something
Brussels II Revised – a treaty designed to make it easier to litigate within the European Union; it covers divorce, separation and annulment of marriage, parental responsibility, including residence and contact, enforcement of contact orders, and special rules concerning child abduction – Denmark has not signed the treaty
CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) – the organisation responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children involved in family court cases
CAFCASS officer – an officer working for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service – involved from an early stage in parental disputes concerning children – often required to report to the court on the child’s views and best interests
Child abduction – the illegal removal of a child from its home, in particular removal from one country to another – a removal may be illegal even if it is by a parent who lives with the child, if someone with the right to help make decisions about the child, such as the other parent, has not given their permission
Child of the family – a child who has been treated as a member of the family – usually natural children, but may include adopted children and step-children (although not foster children)
Child of the marriage – a child who is the child of the both of the parties
Child maintenance – regular payments made to support a child of the family
Child support – a form of child maintenance, administered by a special government agency, not the courts, the amount of which is decided by applying a formula to the family situation
Child Support Agency – the government organisation which administers the payment of child support
Child Support Agency assessment – the amount the Child Support Agency requires an absent parent to pay towards the child’s living expenses
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) – the organisation responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children involved in family court cases
Clean break – an arrangement of a couple’s finances that allows the parties to separate without any further financial responsibility for each other
Compensation order – compensation for financial loss caused by breach of a contact order without excuse; only actual financial loss may be compensated
Consent order – an order confirming an agreement between the parties
Contact – the arrangements for keeping a child in touch with a parent who is not living with them, normally visits, but may be indirect contact, such as letters, cards or presents
Contact activity directions – require a parent to take part in an activity that will promote contact with a child, such as counselling, parenting programmes, anger management classes, domestic violence perpetrator programmes or mediation information sessions
Co-respondent – a person named in the divorce petition as having committed adultery with the respondent to the petition – adultery can now be alleged without naming the co-respondent
Costs – the legal expenses of an action
Decree absolute – the final court order in the divorce process – it means the marriage is at an end, and the parties are free to re-marry
Decree nisi – the first court order in the divorce process – it confirms that the petitioner has established irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
Directions – instructions from the court about what the parties, their lawyers, or any experts should do before the next court hearing
Directions appointment – a hearing at which the court considers what has happened so far in a case and issues instructions about what should happen before the next court hearing
Disclosure – providing the other party with information relevant to the case
Discovery – showing the other party documents relevant to the case
Domestic violence – includes a wide range of controlling behaviour, including psychological harassment, that is harmful to the health and well-being of the victim
Domicile – the country which a person regards as their home country, whether or not they are currently living in that country – special legal status is associated with domicile; a person can get divorced in their country of domicile, even if they have not lived there during the marriage
Duxbury fund – a lump sum payment intended to provide an income for a certain number of years, usually for the rest of the recipient’s life
Ex parte application – the old term for an application to the court in which only one side has the opportunity to put their case – now known as a ‘without notice’ application – many lawyers still use the old term
Enforcement order – imposes an ‘unpaid work requirement’ of between 40 and 200 hours on a parent in breach of a contact order, to be completed within a 12-month period
Family court reporter - an officer working for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children involved in family court cases – often required to report to the court on the child’s views and best interests
FDR – the common abbreviation for a financial dispute resolution appointment
Filing – bringing a document to the attention of the court, who will place it ‘on the file’, usually by delivery to the court office
Financial dispute resolution appointment – the second court appointment under the procedure for obtaining ancillary relief – a judge looks at all the relevant information, including offers made by each side to assist the parties in reaching an agreement
Financial relief – the range of financial orders that the court has power to make on divorce – another name for ancillary relief
First appointment – the first court appointment under the procedure for obtaining ancillary relief – a judge decides what information each side should produce and timetables the case
Form E – a sworn statement of property and income
Freezing order – a special court order preventing someone from disposing of any of their assets – can apply to assets held abroad – many lawyers still use the old term, Mareva injunction
Habitual residence – the country in which the individual lives – a person may have more than one country of habitual residence
Hague proceedings – child abduction proceedings – a request for the return of a child to the country from which they have been taken
Injunction – a court order that forbids or requires someone to do something
Inspection appointment – a hearing to require someone other than a party to the proceedings to produce relevant documents
Interim order – an order made before the final decision in the case
Issuing – the court’s stamping of a document to show that the fee has been paid, and that the document has gone onto the court file
Joint tenancy – a form of joint ownership of land in which both sides share the whole title to the property – if one dies the survivor will own the entire property
Judicial separation – a formal separation of a married couple, allowing the court to make many of the orders that can be made on divorce
Jurisdiction – the authority of the court to make a decision on a particular issue
Lump sum – a payment of capital
Maintenance – regular income payments to support a former spouse
Maintenance pending suit – regular income payments to support a spouse that will continue only until the final hearing
Mareva injunction – the old name for a freezing order, which is a special court order preventing someone from disposing of any of their assets – can apply to assets held abroad
Matrimonial home – the house that a married couple occupy together, as their main home
Mediation – an intervention to encourage a couple to reach agreement about the arrangements for the child, or about finances – conducted by trained mediators
Non-resident parent – the parent who does not have the child living with them
Notice – a formal notification of some step to be taken in a legal dispute
Nuptial settlement – a trust for the benefit of one or both of the parties, created because of the marriage, or referring to the marriage, whether made before the marriage (pre–nuptial) or after the wedding (post–nuptial)
Parent with care – the parent with whom the child is living
Parental responsibility – a parent’s rights, duties and responsibilities for their child – unmarried fathers do not automatically have parental responsibility unless (since 2003) their name is on the birth certificate
Parental responsibility order – an order recognising an individual not named on the birth certificate as the child’s legal parent
Parties to the proceedings – the people required to appear before the court, who are bound by the court’s judgment whether they appear or not
Pension attachment - a court order instructing pension trustees to pay a proportion of a pension to a former spouse when the pension is taken
Pension earmarking – See pension attachment
Pension sharing – the division of a pension fund between two spouses. Upon divorce, a proportion of a pension is debited from the pension fund and credited to a pension fund in the spouse’s name
Periodical payments – regular income payments – another term for maintenance
Petition – the application for a divorce or judicial separation
Petitioner – the person who applies for a divorce or judicial separation
Pre–nuptial agreement – an agreement entered into before a marriage that purports to govern the way in which the parties will hold their assets when they are married, and sometimes to define what will happen if the parties divorce
Prohibited steps order – prevents a parent from exercising parental responsibility for the child without the consent of the court in some specific respect
Property adjustment order – an order that one spouse or former spouse must transfer property to the other
Reporting officer – a CAFCASS officer who has been instructed to prepare a report for a court hearing
Residence order – an order specifying with whom the child will make their home
Respondent – the spouse who receives and responds to the application for a divorce, or the spouse who receives and responds to the notice claiming ancillary relief or the person receiving and responding to an application concerning children
Separation agreement – a document describing the terms on which the parties agree to separate – not binding on the court but may be considered by the court in deciding what is fair
Service – delivery of legal documents to either party or to their legal representative
Specific issue order – an order determining a specific question concerning a child
Statement of arrangements – the form setting out the petitioner’s suggestions as to what arrangements should be made for the children after the divorce
Statement of evidence – the evidence, oral and written, which a party proposes to put before the court in children proceedings
Statement of open proposals – the suggestions offered by each party before the final hearing, explaining what financial orders he or she thinks the court should make
Statement of service – the form filed by the applicant to confirm that all documents have been properly served on the respondent
Stay – halting proceedings before the court has given a final judgment
Sworn statement – a statement of facts, whose truth has been confirmed, on oath, by the person making it; also known as an affidavit
Tenancy–in–common – a form of property ownership in which separate shares are agreed – if one of the owners dies their share will form part of their estate and will not automatically belong to the survivor
Unpaid work requirement – used to be known as community service; imposed by enforcement orders for breach of contact orders in certain circumstances
Void marriage – a marriage which is not valid and cannot be recognised by the court
Voidable marriage – a marriage which is missing one or more of the normal elements of a marriage but which may be recognised by the court if it is just to do so
Warning notice – a statement attached to a contact order, explaining that the instructions contained in the order must be obeyed, with a warning of the possible consequences of a failure to comply; similar to a penal notice
Without notice application – an application to the court in which only one side has the opportunity to put their case – used to be known as an ex parte application – many lawyers still use the old term
Without prejudice – correspondence, usually an offer, which cannot be used in evidence