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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).
Uncontested Divorce
A divorce where both parties are able to make a mutually agreed-upon arrangement.
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.
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.
Abandonment
When a parent leaves a child without enough care, supervision, support, or parental contact for an excessive period of time.
Custodial parent
The parent who has physical custody of the children.
Alimony
A payment made by one spouse to another pending divorce or separation.
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.
Legal Separation
A court order arranging the terms (custody, support, etc.) under which a married couple will live separately. This addresses the same issues as divorce, but does not completely dissolve the marriage.
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