Divorce Definitions

Annulment The legal dissolution of a marriage. In an annulment, the marriage is treated as though it never existed. Abandonment When a parent leaves a child without enough care, supervision, support, or parental contact for an excessive period of time. Supervised visitation A form of visitation in which an adult supervisor must be present when the child is visiting with 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. Reimbursement Alimony Reimbursement alimony, as the name implies, is designed to reimburse one spouse for expenses occurred by the other. Absolute divorce A divorce in which the marriage is completely dissolved and both parties become single. Alimony A payment made by one spouse to another pending divorce or separation. Divorce agreement A divorce agreement spells out the terms of the divorce and the relationship between the two spouses after the divorce. These agreements usually cover property division, child custody and child plans, debt division, spousal support, and any other relevant issues related to the divorce. Reasonable visitation A form of visitation in which the parents work out a schedule of visitation for the non-custodial parent. 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.

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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.