Divorce Definitions

Annulment The legal dissolution of a marriage. In an annulment, the marriage is treated as though it never existed. Residual Physical Custodial Rights A custody agreement when one parent is awarded visitation by a pre-arranged schedule worked out between the parents or the courts. 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. Absolute divorce A divorce in which the marriage is completely dissolved and both parties become single. 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. Custodial parent The parent who has physical custody of the children. Rehabilitative Alimony Rehabilitative alimony refers to alimony that is given to a spouse so that the spouse may “rehabilitate” herself or himself in the sense of acquiring greater earning power or training in order to become self-supporting. Buccal Swab A recognized form of genetic testing used to determine paternity, which involves a q-tip type instrument for collecting saliva from individuals submitting to testing. Joint custody A form of child custody that grants both parents joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or both joint legal custody and joint physical custody. Contested Divorce A divorce where the parties are unable or unwilling to come to a mutual agreement.

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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.