Glossary

Family Law - Glossary of Legal Terms

Family Law can be complex and there is often a lot of legal terminology and acronyms used in the various legal documents you might see.

To help you understand some of the more common legal phrases that are used in family law and children law proceedings, the team at Venters Solicitors have produced this alphabetical glossary of legal terms.

A-C

• Adoption – The legal process of permanently transferring parental responsibility from a child's birth parents to adoptive parents.
• Adoption Order – The court order when a child is adopted and the adopters become the legal parents of a child.
• Adoption Proceedings – The court proceedings started by an application for an Adoption Order to become the legal parents of a child.
• Adoptive Parents – People who wish to adopt a child.
• Advocate – A lawyer who speaks on your behalf in court.
• Affidavit – A legal document that is sworn on oath to be true.
• Ancillary Relief – Former term for financial proceedings in divorce; now referred to as "Financial Remedy Proceedings."
• Annulment – The legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void.
• Applicant – The person who starts a legal application in court.
• Arbitration – A method of resolving disputes outside court, where an arbitrator makes a binding decision.
• Arbitrator – The impartial third party within the arbitration process that makes the final decision.
• Assets – Anything of value that you own or have an interest in.
• Barrister – A lawyer who specialises in representing at court.
• Blended Family – When two divorced parents come together and bring their children with them.
• Brief – A summary of facts and instructions provided to a Barrister so they can prepare for a court hearing.
• CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) – A public body that represents children's interests in family court proceedings.
• Care Order – A court order placing a child in the care of their local authority.
• Care Proceedings - Court proceedings initiated by the local authority’s children services department.
• Child – A minor under the age of 18.
• Child Abduction – Unauthorised removal of a child from the care of their parents or carer.
• Child Arrangements Order – A court order determining where a child lives and who they spend time with.
• Child Custody – The legal term regarding the legal and practical relationship between a parent/guardian and a child in that person's care.
• Child Inclusive Mediation – A process where a mediator meets with a child during the mediation process.
• Child Maintenance – Financial support paid by one parent to another for the benefit of their child.
• Child Maintenance Service - Formally known as the Child Support Agency, the Child Maintenance Service arranges Child Maintenance payments
• Children’s Guardian - Experts appointed by the court to help a judge make the best possible decision for a child.
• Civil Partnership - A legal relationship which can be registered by two people who aren’t related to each other. Civil Partnerships are available to be same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. Civil partnerships offer similar rights and responsibilities to marriage.
• Cohabitation - An arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together.
• Cohabitation Agreement – A legal agreement between unmarried partners setting out financial and property arrangements.
• Conditional Order- this is the new equivalent to decree nisi and is the order stating that a couple is entitled to divorce
• Consent Order – A court-approved agreement between divorcing parties regarding finances or arrangements for children.
• Contact – The time a child spends with a parent or other relative after separation.
• Clean Break Order – A court order that ends financial ties between divorcing spouses.
• Counsel – A Barrister or other legal advisor conducting a case.
• Court Fees – The costs of handling a case.
• Custody – Imprisonment.

D-H

• DAPN – Domestic Abuse Protection Notice – A temporary notice issued by the police to a perpetrator to provide immediate protection to victims of all forms of domestic abuse measure while a DAPO can be obtained.  
• DAPO - Domestic Abuse Protection Order – An application that can be made by the court to protect victims from all forms of domestic abuse, including non-physical abuse and controlling or coercive behaviour.
• Decree Absolute – Prior to the change in divorce rules in April 2022, the Decree Absolute was the final order that legally ends a marriage.
• Decree Nisi – Prior to the change in divorce rules in April 2022, a decree nisi was the provisional court order stating that a couple is entitled to divorce, then followed by a Decree Absolute to finalise the divorce.
• Deed of separation – A legally binding contract agreed upon by divorcing/separating couple outlining each parties rights and duties to the other.
• Desertion – A spouse/civil partner who leaves the family home against the wishes of the other with no good reason.
• Directions – A court order set out by a judge providing details of all the steps that the judge believes necessary to progress your case.
• Disclosure - A part of the litigation process where each party is required to disclose evidence to support their case.
• Dissolution – The legal ending of a civil partnership.
• Divorce - The process of terminating a marriage.
• Domestic Abuse – Any form of physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, or financial abuse within a family or intimate relationship.
• Enforcement Order – A court order issued as a penalty for a parent/someone with parental responsibility who has breached a Child Arrangement Order.
• Emergency Application- An urgent application to the family court in an emergency.
• Emergency Protection Order – Enables a child to be removed from where they are/to be kept where they are, if necessary to provide short term protection.
• Ex Parte Hearing - A civil procedure where only one party is present or represented before the court.
• Expert Witness - An expert or skilled witness is a person who through practice, or study, or both, is specifically qualified in a recognised branch of knowledge.
• Financial Consent Order- a legally binding court order following the financial settlement
• Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) Hearing – A court hearing where a judge helps parties reach a financial settlement.
• Fact Finding Hearing - A type of court hearing that considers all the evidence surrounding allegations. The purpose of a Fact-Finding Hearing to decide whether an alleged incident took place.
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - The partial or total removal of the external female for non-medical reasons. The practice of FGM is illegal in England.
• Financial Settlement- an agreement as to how finances will be divided after the divorce
• Forced Marriages - A marriage where one of neither party to the marriage consent to it and the marriage takes place under duress.
• Form D8 – the form used to apply for a divorce or dissolution
• Form E – A financial statement used in divorce proceedings to disclose financial information.
• Guardian – A person legally appointed to care for a child if the parents are unable to do so.

I-M

• Injunction – A court order preventing someone from doing something (e.g., contacting a former partner or accessing a property).
• Intermediary – A professional who bridges the gap between an individual and the legal system, helping the individual navigate the legal system and reassuring legal representatives that their client is being given the support they need to engage with the process.
• Interim Care Order – A temporary measure intended to keep a child safe while care proceedings are ongoing.
• Issues/Issuing - Known as Issuing proceedings, it refers to the production of a document, by the court at the request of a party or intended party.
• Joint Custody – Now referred to as "shared care" or "shared parental responsibility," where both parents play an active role in the child's life.
• Judgement – The decision of a court.
• Judicial Separation – A formal ending of a marriage without getting a divorce.
• Legal Aid – Government-funded legal assistance for those who meet eligibility criteria.
• Litigation – The process of taking legal action.
• Marriage – The legally/formally recognised union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.
• Maintenance – Payments made to a spouse/civil partner or former spouse/civil partner for themselves or for a child.
• McKenzie friend – Someone providing moral or practical support to someone involved in a case who does not have a lawyer.
• Mediation – A process where a neutral third party helps separated couples reach an agreement.
• Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) – A meeting to assess whether mediation is suitable before taking a case to court.

N-R

• Non-Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR) – A term used to refer to methods of resolving family disputes outside of court. The most common forms of NCDR included Mediation and Arbitration.
• Non-Molestation Order – A court order protecting a person from harassment, threats, or violence.
• Oath – A promise to tell the truth.
• Occupation Order – A court order determining who can live in a family home.
• Petition for Divorce – The initial court document by which an application is made for the divorce of spouses.
• Parental Responsibility – The legal rights and duties a parent has towards a child.
• Parental Order – The legal transfer of parenthood from the surrogate to the intended parents.
• Particulars – A document that sets out the matters to be discussed at trial.
• Party/Parties - An ordinary of legal person involved in legal proceedings.
• Pension Sharing Order – A court order dividing pension assets upon divorce.
• Pension Attachment Order – The redirecting of part or all of a persons pension benefits to an ex spouse or civil partner.
• Periodical payments – Ongoing payments made by one party to the other, either for themselves or the children of the family.
• Pre-Nuptial Agreement – A contract signed before marriage outlining financial arrangements if the marriage ends.
• Prohibited Steps Order – A court order preventing a parent from making a specific decision about a child without consent.
• Post Nuptial Agreement - A contract signed after marriage outlining financial arrangements if the marriage ends.
• Residence – Your permanent or primary home.
• Respondent - The term used to describe the ‘defendant’ in legal proceedings.

S-Z

• Separated Parents Information Programme (SPIP) – A programme helping separated parents understand the impact of conflict on children.
• Separation Agreement – A written agreement setting out financial and child arrangements for a separating couple.
• Special Guardianship Order (SGO)– An order made by the family court regarding children who can’t live with their birth parents and for whom adoption is not right for them. The person/people named in the SGO will become the child’s special guardian and will have parental responsibility for the child until they turn 18.
• Specific Issue Order – A court order resolving a specific dispute over a child (e.g., which school they attend).
• Spouse – A husband or wife.
• Spousal Maintenance – Payments made by one spouse to the other following divorce.
• Social Services – A department in your local council whose job it is to ensure that young people/vulnerable adults are safe, looked after and aren’t suffering from abuse or neglect.
• Solicitor – A qualified legal professional who provides specialist legal advice or different areas of law.
• Stranded Spouse – A term used to describe situations where a family travels abroad holiday and one spouse is intentionally left behind either without any means of returning home.
• Surrogate/Surrogacy - A woman who carries and gives birth to a baby for another couple.
• Supervision order – A Supervision Order is very often made as part of the care proceedings process. The child will remain under the care of their parents and a care plan will be put in place. Social services will have a duty to ‘advise, assist or befriend’ the child and work with the family to make improvements and help keep the care plan on track.
• Trial – A formal meeting in a court where evidence about crimes, disagreements etc is presented to a judge and/or jury so that a decision can be made according to the law.
• TOLATA (Trust of Land & Appointment of Trustees Act 1996) - A law giving courts the power to make decisions where there are property disputes between unmarried couples.
• Ward of Court – A child placed under the direct protection of the court.

For assistance with anything included in this glossary please contact our team.