Family Law Glossary Terms

The voluntary act of leaving a child or spouse with no plan to return. Parents are considered to have abandoned a child if they do not provide financial support or have no contact with the child over a period of time. Abandoning a child is grounds for losing parental rights. Abandonment of a spouse occurs when one spouse leaves the marital home without the consent of the other. Abandonment of a spouse is grounds for divorce.

More accurately referred to as spousal support, alimony is a financial award sometimes granted during a divorce, to be paid by the higher wage earner spouse to the lower or non-wage earner spouse. Spousal support is often granted to offset the negative economic consequences of divorce for the lower or non-wage earner spouse and to allow that spouse some time to become self-sufficient. Spousal support awards can be either life-long or limited to a certain amount of time and they are often discontinued if the recipient spouse remarries. The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act recommends that spousal support awards be considerate of the age, physical condition, emotional state, and financial condition of the former spouses; the length of time the recipient would need for education or training to become self-sufficient; the couple's standard of living during the marriage; the length of the marriage; and the ability of the payer spouse to support the recipient and also support himself or herself.