Glossary of Family Law Terms

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Default Judgement: A judgment rendered when the other side failed to appear in court.

Defendant: The person against whom a claim is brought.

Deposition: A pretrial discovery device in which one party verbally answers questions from the other party.

Desertion: One spouse voluntarily leaves the other (without justification or consent from their spouse) for an uninterrupted period of time and with no intentions of returning.

Discovery: Steps that a party takes before trial to obtain information from the other side in order to prepare for trial.

Dissolution: The legal end of a marriage.

Domicile: The place where a person has been physically present with the intent to make that place a permanent home. A "residence," on the other hand, is the place where you are living at a particular time. A person can have more than one residence, but only one domicile.