Difference between revisions of "Terminology"

;ab Initio:A Latin phrase meaning "from the beginning." A marriage which is unlawful is "void ab initio," as if it never happened.

;abduction:The taking of a person by force or fraud. In family law, also the taking of a child contrary to a court order or without the other parent's permission. In certain circumstances, this may be a criminal offence.

;abrogate:To rvoke or annul. One "abrogates" a contract, like a family agreement, by doing something expressly contrary to the agreement. One party's act of abrogation may not void the agreement, but will give the other party a cause of action.

;access:A parent's time with his or her children following the breakdown of the parents' relationship. Access usually refers to the visits of a child with the parent who doesn't have the child's primary residence. See "Custody," "Guardianship" and "Primary Residence."

;act:A law passed by a government, also called "legislation" or a "statute." Also, the intentional doing of a thing.

;action:A law suit; a legal proceeding in which one party sues another for a remedy or specific relief. An action for divorce, for example, is a court proceeding in which the Claimant sues the Respondent for the relief of an order for the parties' divorce.

;address for service:The address at which a party must accept delivery of legal documents. An address for service must be a proper street address within British Columbia; additional addreses for service may include postal addresses, fax numbers and email addresses.

;adoption:In family law, the act or process of taking another person's natural child as one's own. The child then becomes the adopting parent's legal child as if the child were the adopting parent's natural child, while the natural parent loses all rights and obligations with respect to the child. See "Natural Parent."

;Adoption Act:A provincial law dealing with entitlement to adopt and the adoption process.

;adoptive parent:A person who has formally assumed the status of parent to a child who is not his or her biological offspring. See "Adoption" and "Natural Parent."

;adultery:The act of a married person voluntarily engaging in sexual intercourse with a person other than his or her spouse; cheating; playing around; fishing out of season. Proof of adultery is grounds for an immediate divorce, providing that the other spouse has not consented to or forgiven the adulterous act. See also "Collusion," "Condonation" and "Divorce, Grounds of."

;advance:In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a share of his or her portion of the family assets before those assets have been divided, whether following trial or a final settlement of the matter.

;Advisory Guidelines:See "Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines."

;affidavit:A legal document in which a person provides evidence of certain facts and events in writing, as if the evidence was given orally under oath. Affidavits must be notarized by a lawyer or notary public who takes the oath or affirmation of the person making the affidavit about the truth of its contents. Affidavits are used as evidence, just as if the deponent, the person making the affidavit, had made the statements orally before a judge at trial. See "Deponent" and "Witness."

;affirm:To promise that a statement is true. When someone "swears" to tell the truth, they are considered to be taking an oath on their faith in a god. Affirming is a substitute for taking an oath, and is most often employed where person making the statement is an atheist or under a religious proscription from making oaths. See "Affidavit," "Oath" and "Witness."

;age of majority:The age at which someone becomes a legal adult with the full capacity to act on their own, independent of their parents, including the capacity to sue and be sued. In British Columbia, the age of majority is 19. The age of majority has nothing to do with being entitled to vote or buy alcohol, although federal and provincial laws sometimes link those privileges with the age at which one attains majority. See "Disability" and "Infant."

;agent:In law, someone acting on behalf of someone else, with that person's express permission and normally their express direction.

;alias:A name by which people know you other than your legal name. Aliases are not illegal in British Columbia.

;alienating:In family law, the actions or statements of one parent which tend to sever, damage or harm his or her child's relationship with or affections for the other parent.

;allegation:An assertion that a certain set of facts is true, such as "on Monday, I had soup for lunch" or "Bob drives a blue Camaro." Also called an allegation of fact or a statement of fact.

;alternative dispute resolution:A phrase referring to a family of processes intended to resolve disputes outside of the court system, including arbitration, mediation, negotiation and collaborative law. In family law, the purpose of ADR is to offer a less adversarial and less expensive way to resolve a dispute than having to go to court and have a judge resolve things.

;amend:To change or alter a pleading or document which has already been filed in court or given to the other party. The resulting document is a separate document from the original and is called, for example, the "Amended Notice of Family Claim" or the "Amended List of Documents."

;amicus curiae:A Latin phrase meaning "friend of the court." Usually refers to a lawyer who does not act for any of the parties and assists or brings relevant information to the attention of the presiding judge.

;annulment:A declaration by a judge that a marriage is invalid. The effect of such a declaration is to make it as if the marriage never occured. See "Ab Initio," "Declaration" and "Validity of Marriage."

;answer:A response to an allegation of fact or to a claim. Usually refers to documents which reply to the allegations or claims made by the other party, such as a "Response to Family Claim" or a "Reply."

;appeal:An application to a higher court for a review of the decision of a lower court and, hopefully, the reversal of that decision. A decision of a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia can, for example, be appealed to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia for review.

;appellant:The party who brings an appeal of a lower court's decision. See also "Appeal" and "Respondent."

;applicant:A party to an action who brings an application to the court for certain relief. Usually refers to the party who has brought an interim application before the court. See also "Interim Application" and "Application Respondent."

;application:A request to the court that it make an order for certain relief, usually on an interim or temporary basis. See also "Interim Application," "Motion" and "Relief."

;application respondent:A party against whom an interim application has been brought. See also "Interim Application" and "Applicant."

;apportion:In family law, to divide equally, usually referring to the division of family assets between spouses. See also "Reapportion."

;appraisal:A professional estimate of the worth of certain property. In family law, this is sometimes required for the court to fix the value of assets such as an art collection or a house.

;apprehend:In law, to take; to seize. In family law, this term usually refers to the taking of a child out of the care of his or her parents by the child welfare authorities.

;arbitrator:A person selected by the parties to a dispute to resolve their dispute outside of court, who is given the authority to impose a decision on the parties.

;arrears:Money which is unpaid but supposed to have been paid pursuant to an order or agreement. Usually refers to outstanding money owed for spousal support or child support.

;assent:Agreement, approval.

;assess:To determine the value or amount of something. A lawyer's bill may be "assessed" by a registrar to determine the actual amount the client should pay. See "Appraisal."

;assign:In law, to transfer an interest or right in something to someone else. People who go on welfare, for example, are required to assign their rights to apply for child support and spousal support to the provincial government.

;attest:To swear or affirm something to be true, usually in the context of oral evidence or affidavit evidence.