| Affidavit | A sworn statement submitted in lieu of testimony. |
| AJE | Agreed Judgment Entry |
| BIC* | Best
Interest of the Child - an often used meaningless line of rhetoric so
the system can feel good about all the things they do that are not BIC |
| Commingling | Mixing
funds so that they can not be distinguished from a legal or financial
forensics perspective. Becomes big issue for pre-marital vs
marital property. |
| CPO | Civil
Protection Order - an order prohibiting contact in case of Domestic
Violence (was not an issue in my case, here for completeness). |
| CPS | Child
Protective Services - an agency tasked with protecting children, but as
with many government bureaucracies it can be inefficient and abused as a
weapon for custody battles. |
| CYA* | Cover Your Ass |
| Deadbeat* | An often used phrase that does
not take into account that the enforcement agency has less than a 50/50
chance of having your status correct, especially when the agency is
misused by a skillful opponent. |
| Deposition | A
method of discovery where someone is questioned under oath and the
answers are recorded by a court reporter. This may be used to
ensure testimony does not change. |
| Discovery | The process of gathering evidence for trial. |
| Docket | A
summary of items related to case, usually available online, contains
parties, their representation, court costs, judge/magistrate assigned,
status, next action. A list of motions, decisions, agreed
judgment entries, orders, scheduling entries. Upcoming scheduled
hearings will usually contain a list of motions to be heard. |
| DOPO |
Division of Property Order |
| Ex Parte | A motion that can be decided on without the opposing party being present. This may be listed in the courts local rules. |
| Grounds | The
reason for the divorce although this is a hold over from the past when
divorce required a reason and nearly all states allow a no fault
grounds for divorce such as Irreconcilable differences. Even if
a grounds exists (like infidelity), a no-fault grounds is also often
used so that the grounds do not need to be proved. |
| Interrogatory | A method of discovery where written questions are submitted and written responses under oath are required. |
| JE |
Judgment Entry |
| Local Rules | Each
court has published local rules that you should be aware of. They
will explain the format of court documents, various procedures and
processes. |
| NCP | Non-Custodial-Parent
- the looser parent in the divorce who has no control of what happens
to his child and is only visited |
| No Fault | A
divorce concept started in California and now the defacto standard in
all states even those that have grounds. In states that have
grounds for divorce the "Irreconcilable differences" grounds provides
the loophole for obtaining a divorce for no specific reason. |
| Pearl Harbor File* | A file of dirt you keep in case things go south and you need to drop a "bomb" to regain leverage. |
| Pendente Lite | Motion made in pretrial for spousal support (alimony) and child support |
| PERS | Public Employees Retirement System |
| PO | Protection Order - see CPO |
| QDRO |
Qualified Distribution Order, used to split ownership interest in pensions. |
| Quit Claim Deed |
Allows the party who will control the house to remove the spouse from the deed, |
| Residential Parent* | Parent where child lives. Winning Parent, who has rights and can abuse the rights of NCP. |
| RO | Restraining Order - See TRO |
| Rules of Evidence | |
| Subpoena | A discovery method where someone is ordered to appear in court. |
| Subpoena --- | A discovery method where someone is ordered to turn over documents. |
| TRO | Temporary
Restraining Order - The word temporary is a bit of a misnomer, it will
likely be in force until final decree and may become a permanent order
as part of the final decree |