A
Acknowledgment of Service: Official recognition by someone that they are part of a legal case initiated by someone else.
Adjournment: Delay of a court hearing to a later date.
Adultery: Having a sexual relationship with someone other than your spouse while married, but not necessary to claim in divorce proceedings since April 2022’s no-fault divorce introduction.
Ancillary Relief: An outdated term for requesting financial support following a divorce or civil partnership dissolution.
Applicant: The person initiating a divorce or any other family law application.
Arbitration: An out-of-court process where a qualified arbitrator makes binding decisions on disputes, used for financial, property, or some child-related issues. It is a form of alternative dispite resolution.
B
Barrister: A specialist advocate for Court representation, typically hired by solicitors but some barristers accept direct access instructions from members of the public. They are often instructed in more complex or difficult cases.
C
CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service): An independent body advising family courts on child-related cases.
CETV (Cash Equivalent Transfer Value): The value of pension benefits for divorce purposes.
Child Abduction: Taking a child by one parent without the other’s consent.
Child Arrangements: Agreements on a child’s living and contact arrangements with parents and possibly other family members.
Child Maintenance: Financial support from the non-resident parent for the child’s living expenses.
Child Maintenance Service (CMS): Government body overseeing child maintenance payments, offering calculation tools for parents.
Child Support: Another term for child maintenance.
Child Support Agency: The former government agency for child maintenance, replaced by CMS.
Children Act 1989: Paramount Legislation concerning children’s rights and welfare in England and Wales.
Civil Partnership: Legal unions like marriage, available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Clean Break: A divorce settlement that ends all financial ties between the married couple.
Cohabitation Agreement: A formal arrangement between a cohabiting couple about their relationship and separation terms.
Cohabiting / Cohabitation: Couples living together without being married.
Consent Order: A legal agreement between a divorcing couple about asset division, needing court approval.
Child Contact: Time a child spends with the non-resident parent post-divorce or separation.
Counsel: A person’s legal representative, like a solicitor or barrister. Typically barristers are referred to as Counsel.
Custody: The parent a child lives with daily after divorce or separation, now termed ‘Child Arrangements Order’.
Conditional Order of Divorce/Civil Partnership Dissolution: A provisional statement that a divorce or dissolution can be finalised.
D
Declaration of Trust: A statement that one or more people hold assets for themselves or someone else, signed as a Deed.
Disclosure: Revealing all relevant documents and information in a legal process like divorce.
Divorce: The legal termination of a marriage and division of assets.
Divorce Petition (Application): A formal request to end a marriage.
E
Ex Parte: An urgent temporary legal order made without one party’s presence, typically followed by a full hearing.
F
Family Lawyer: A legal expert specialising in family law, possibly a Cilex or Paralegal.
Family Solicitor: A solicitor specialising in family law.
FDA (First Directions Appointment): The first court hearing in a family case for financial remedy matters on divorce.
FDR (Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing): A without prejudice negotiation-focused hearing in family court for financial matters on divorce.
FHDRA (First Hearing and Dispute Resolution Appointment): The initial hearing in a child arrangement court case, focusing on dispute resolution and negotiation.
Final Hearing: A court hearing where a judge issues a judgment after reviewing and hearing evidence.
Final Order of Divorce: The last stage in the divorce process, formally ending the marriage, previously known as the decree absolute.
Financial Remedy: Aspects of divorce or dissolution concerning the division of money and assets, formerly known as ‘ancillary relief’.
Financial Remedy Order: A court order specifying the division of money and assets between a divorcing couple.
Form A: A standard form for making a financial claim in divorce.
Form E: A detailed document outlining each party’s financial situation in a divorce. This form is then mutually exchanged.
Form G: Used to confirm both parties’ intentions on how they intend to utilise the FDA in financial remedy proceedings.
Form H: An ongoing estimate of costs required at each stage of financial remedy proceedings.
Former Matrimonial Home: The property where a couple lived during their relationship. “The core matrimonial asset”.
I
Interim Maintenance: Temporary maintenance paid in cases of financial hardship before divorce completion.
J
Judicial Separation: A legal separation where couples remain married but can resolve most financial matters, often chosen for religious reasons or if within the first year of marriage.
Joint Divorce Application: Under the Divorce Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, both partners can apply for a divorce together.
Jurisdiction: The legal authority of courts and judges under the laws of a particular country.
L
Leave to Remove: Court permission for a parent to take a child abroad, outside of England and Wales.
Litigant in Person: Someone involved in legal proceedings without a lawyer, usually for financial reasons.
Lump Sum: A single payment in settlement of a financial claim in divorce.
M
Maintenance: Ongoing payments following a divorce or separation, either child maintenance or spousal maintenance.
Maintenance Pending Suit: Provisional maintenance by the wealthier spouse during divorce proceedings in cases of financial difficulty for the economically weaker party.
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: Primary legislation concerning marriage and divorce in England and Wales.
Matrimonial Home Rights: Rights of a divorcing spouse to stay in the couple’s home, granted by the Family Law Act 1996. Used when the home is in one party`s name to preserve the asset from being sold.
McKenzie Friend: An informal courtroom advisor, typically not legally qualified.
Mediation: A process where a mediator assists a divorcing couple in arranging children and/or finances. The mediator facilitates discussions but does not provide legal advice.
MIAM (Mediation Information Assessment Meeting): A meeting to introduce divorce couples to mediation and assess its suitability for their case.
N
Non-Molestation Order: An injunction preventing the subject from contacting, approaching, or harassing the person who was granted the order, often used in domestic violence cases.
Nullity: In marriage, it signifies that no legally valid marriage occurred despite a ceremony.
O
Occupation Order: An injunction granting one party exclusive rights to the family home, often in domestic abuse cases.
Offer: In family law, a proposed settlement that can be accepted or rejected by the other party.
Order for Sale: A court order enabling the sale of property when joint owners or beneficial owners cannot agree, common in financial remedy on divorce cases and Trusts of Land cases, ie) cohabitee disputes.
P
Parental Responsibility: Legal status entitling those with PR to make all decisions for their child.
Pension Attachment: A court order to pension trustees to pay a portion to a former spouse or partner. Rare in practice.
Pension Offsetting: Exchanging future pension benefits for capital now, often complex and requiring specialist advice from a Pension Actuary.
Periodical Payments: Regular monetary payments from one party of a marriage to the other for either a set period of time or until an event occurs in the future.
Prenuptial Agreement: An agreement signed before marriage about each parties` assets and what the parties intend as to the financial settlement, in the event they divorce.
Proceedings: The court process which you are in.
Prohibited Steps Order: An order forbidding the recipient from taking specific actions, often related to children matters.
Property Adjustment Order: A court order to change or transfer property ownership.
Q
Questionnaire: In family law, requests for further information about a party`s financial circumstances following Form E exchange.
R
Residence: Where a child lives daily post-divorce or separation, previously known as custody.
Respondent: In a sole divorce application, the spouse of the applicant – the person filing the divorce application.
S
Section 25 Factors: Factors listed in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 that courts consider when deciding on a fair financial settlement.
Service: Formal delivery of legal proceeding documents to involved or affected persons.
Shared Care: An arrangement where divorced or separated parents share day-to-day care of their children.
T
Trust : a trust refers to a legal arrangement where assets are held by one party (the trustee) for the benefit of another party (the beneficiary).
U
Undertaking: A legally binding promise to the court to follow a specific action or course, or to refrain from the same.
W
Without Prejudice: Offers or concessions made during preliminary negotiations that cannot be used against the party in subsequent proceedings, aimed at encouraging out-of-court settlements.