Glossary
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
401(k) PLAN
A Defined Contribution Retirement Plan, contributed to monthly by the employee and often matched by the employer, with a ceiling of the amount of contributions which can be made each year set by federal law. Such a plan accumulated during marriage is marital property.
529 COLLEGE PLANS
A 529 College Savings Plan provides for tax-free savings for college for children, grandchildren, and other family members. Almost every state has such a plan. The one who establishes the Plan can take out monies once a year during the course of the Plan's existence and change beneficiaries also. If money is removed for other than education, the interest earned is taxed.
ABORTION
The termination of a pregnancy by medical means. Abortion is legal in United States.
ABUSE
Abuse is the threatening by one party of another and physically laying on hands to another, which touching is uninvited. Most states have a Domestic Violence statute giving immediate relief to the victim(s). There is also child abuse consisting of physically harming a child or sexually abusing a child for which there are also immediate remedies.
ADULTERY
Adultery is consensual sexual relations when one or both of the participants is legally married to another person. In some states, adultery is a fault factor which prevents a dependent spouse from getting alimony if it is proven that he/she committed adultery while the parties were still living together as husband and wife.
AGREEMENTS
There are many types of Agreements. A pre-nuptial or ante-nuptial agreement is an agreement entered into by a couple prior to marriage. This agreement sets out the financial positions of the parties in the event of separation, divorce or death. There are also post-nuptial agreements entered into by parties after they have married. Such agreements also set out the economic rights of the parties in the event of separation, divorce and/or death. There are also buy-sell agreements which generally are in existence between partners and/or shareholders of a business which sets out the value of the business and/or professional practice in the event that one partner dies or in the event that one seeks to buy the other out or in the event of the death of a partner. A buy-sell agreement resolves a multitude of problems when there is a divorce because a business and/or professional practice is marital property and if there is a buy-sell agreement, the value is determined.
ALIMONY
Alimony is the name of a periodic payment made by one spouse to another subsequent to a divorce decree. The amount of alimony and duration can either be accomplished by agreement or by Order of Court. Alimony may or may not be subject to modification depending on the state. The payment of alimony is deductible to the payor on his federal tax return and is included as income to the payee on his or her federal tax return.
ALIMONY PENDENTE LITE
Alimony pendente lite is awarded during the pendency of the divorce matter. In some states, the equivalent, known as spousal support, may be subject to an entitlement challenge. In that event, a person still may secure an award of alimony pendente lite, the purpose of which is to put the lesser earning spouse on equal footing with the greater earning spouse and to permit the lesser earning spouse "not to be put out of court". Alimony Pendente Lite is synonymous with spousal support and/or separate maintenance.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR)
An alternative process available to parties to resolve their differences without the need of litigation in court. Mediation, Conciliation, and Arbitration are alternative dispute resolution processes
APPEAL
When a person has a result in a trial court with which he or she is unhappy, that person has the right to file an appeal in the appellate court in an effort to have the appellate court overturn the findings of the trial court.
ARBITRATION
This is called an Alternative Dispute Resolution process whereby the parties to a divorce matter engage the services of a private arbitrator to resolve their economic differences, rather than litigating the matter in the courts.
ARREARAGES
Arrearages are past-due payments due to a spouse and/or to children and/or to a former spouse, either ordered by a court or agreed to by the parties, which have not been timely paid.
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
The injection of semen into a woman's uterus (not through sexual intercourse)
in order to make her pregnant.
Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART)
Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART) is any method of producing a fertilized
egg and implanting same into the biological mother or into a surrogate carrier
of the pregnancy who, after birth, turns the child over to the parents
as defined in a surrogacy contract, which is not achieved by sexual
intercourse. Such methods include intrauterine insemination; donation
of eggs; donation of embryos; in-vito fertilization; and intracytoplasmic
sperm injection.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z