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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.
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.
Reasonable visitation
A form of visitation in which the parents work out a schedule of visitation for the non-custodial parent.
Absolute divorce
A divorce in which the marriage is completely dissolved and both parties become single.
No-Fault Divorce
Many states now permit "no-fault" divorces. No fault" divorce describes any divorce where the spouse suing for divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse did something wrong. All states allow divorces regardless of who is at "fault."
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.
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.
Age of Majority
Attained upon one's eighteenth birthday. However, a child support order will remain in effect beyond attainment of eighteen as long as the child continuously attends an accredited high school on a full time basis, the child is determined to be mentally or physically disabled by the court, or both parents have agreed to continue support after the age of 18 and it is incorporated in a divorce decree.
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