Divorce Definitions

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. Reasonable visitation A form of visitation in which the parents work out a schedule of visitation for the non-custodial parent. Abandonment When a parent leaves a child without enough care, supervision, support, or parental contact for an excessive period of time. 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. Custodial parent The parent who has physical custody of the children. Lump-Sum Alimony Lump-sum alimony or alimony in gross refers to alimony that is a fixed payment that generally will be made regardless of circumstances that would be a basis for termination of other types of alimony. 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. No-Fault Divorce Many states now permit "no-fault" divorces. No fault" divorce describes any divorce where the spouse suing for divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse did something wrong. All states allow divorces regardless of who is at "fault." Annulment The legal dissolution of a marriage. In an annulment, the marriage is treated as though it never existed. 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.

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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.