Divorce Definitions

Annulment The legal dissolution of a marriage. In an annulment, the marriage is treated as though it never existed. Supervised visitation A form of visitation in which an adult supervisor must be present when the child is visiting with the non-custodial parent. Contested Divorce A divorce where the parties are unable or unwilling to come to a mutual agreement. Child Support An amount of money under a court or administrative order that is due and owed by the non-custodial parent for the support of the parent's child(ren). Reasonable visitation A form of visitation in which the parents work out a schedule of visitation for 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. 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. 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. Custodial parent The parent who has physical custody of the children.

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	Did You Know?
	In divorce actions, mediators often are involved in custody and visitation disputes. In some jurisdictions (particularly large urban areas), courts require mediation of custody and visitation disputes. The mother and father must talk with a court-appointed mediator to try to resolve the problem before putting their case before a judge. The mediator cannot force a resolution, but the parties can be told to try mediation before coming to court to ask a judge to decide the issue.