Full-Service Law
Firm
| Norwalk
CT | Divorce
Law | Real Estate
Law | |
Attorney Ferraro offers his legal expertise to individuals,
families, and businesses throughout Connecticut.
We proudly serve the Towns and Cities of Norwalk, Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Wilton, New Canaan,
Westport, Southport, Fairfield, Redding, Trumbull, Monroe, Easton
and Weston and all of Fairfield County
Connecticut. Let an experienced
lawyer handle your
matter.
COMMON WORDS IN A DIVORCE
If you are
getting divorced, here
are some words that you should know. The following terms that are
defined below:
Alimony , Annulment, Arrearages, Automatic Court
Orders, Broken
Down Irretrievably, Child Support, Complaint, Custody, Defendant, Dissolution, Docket Number, Filing, Financial
Affidavit, Garnishment, Judgment File, Judgment, No
Fault Divorce, Parties, Paternity, Pendente Lite, Plaintiff, Pro
Se, Pro Se
Divorce, Restraining Order, Return Date, Service, Visitation, Caseflow
Coordinator, Court
Clerk, Court Interpreter, Court
Monitor, Family
Relations Counselor, Judge,
Law
Librarian
Alimony : Alimony is money a court requires
one spouse to pay the other spouse for support before and/or after the divorce is
granted. If you do not ask for alimony at the final hearing, you can never get
it in the future.
Annulment:
An Annulment court order
declaring that the marriage is invalid.
Arrearages:
Arrearages are money for
court ordered alimony and/or child support which is overdue
and unpaid.
Automatic Court Orders: Automatic Court Orders are the Court
orders that take effect when the divorce process begins.
Broken Down Irretrievably: Broken Down Irretievably is the most common
reason for granting a divorce. It means there is
no hope of the husband and wife reconciling.
Child Support :
Child Support is money paid
by a parent to help meet the financial needs of a child.
Complaint:
A Complaint is the legal
paper that starts your case and tells the court what you
want.
Custody: Custody is a court order
deciding where a child will live and how decisions about
the child will be made.
Parents may ask for any custody arrangement that they believe is in the best
interest of their child.
Defendant:
The Defendant is
the person who is served with divorce papers.
Dissolution:
Dissolution is the legal end
of a marriage, also called a divorce.
Docket Number:
The Docket Number is
a unique number the court clerk assigns to a case. It must
be used on all future
papers filed in the court case.
Filing: Giving the court clerk your legal
papers is called a filing.
Financial
Affidavit: A financial affidavit is a sworn
statement of income, expenses, property (called assets) and debts (called
liabilities).
Garnishment: A Garnishment is a
court order to deduct child support or alimony payments
from someone’s income.
Judgment
File: A judgment file is a permanent court record of the court’s
final decision.
Judgment: A judgment is a court
order describing the conditions under which two married people will live
separately.
No Fault
Divorce: The most common kind of divorce,
where no one needs to prove that the husband or wife caused the marriage to end
is called a no fault divorce.
Parties: The people who are named as
plaintiff and defendant on legal papers are the parties.
Paternity: Paternity is legal fatherhood.
Pendente
Lite: Pendente Lite is a court order made before a divorce is
granted.
Plaintiff :
The person who starts the
divorce is the Plaintiff.
Pro Se: FPro Se means for yourself.
Pro Se Divorce:
A do it yourself divorce is a
pro se divorce.
Restraining Order: A restraining order is a court order to protect
someone from physical abuse or the threat
of physical abuse.
Return Date:
The return date is when
the divorce action starts in court and when the 90 day waiting period for a divorce
begins. Also, the defendant should file an appearance on or before the second day
after the Return Date. Nothing happens in court on the Return Date and no one needs to
go to court on the
Return Date. The Return Date is always a Tuesday.
Service: The legal method for giving your
spouse a copy of the court papers being filed, or notice that court action
is being taken or has been taken is called service.
Visitation: Visitation is a court order deciding the amount
of time a noncustodial parent may spend with his or her child; also called
parenting time, or access.
COURT PERSONNEL
To get a
divorce, you will need to speak to many people who work in the
court system. You will
know better what to expect from them after you review the
descriptions below.
Caseflow Coordinator Keeps
track of your case and manages the scheduling of
hearings and
trials.
Court Clerk Maintains the official court record of your case. The
clerk’s office receives all court papers and may assign hearing dates.
Court Interpreter Translates court hearings from English to another
language. May be provided at state expense for cases enforcing child support
orders, if requested.
You must provide your own interpreter in a divorce.
Court Monitor Types
everything said during the court hearing. Prepares a
written record
of the hearing for a fee, if requested.
Family Relations Counselor Mediates disagreements and negotiates agreements in
divorce cases. At the
request of the judge, a family relations counselor may evaluate
a family situation by
interviewing each parent and the children in the family and writing a report for the
judge, making recommendations about custody and visitation. Works in the Judicial
Branch’s CSSD Family
Services Office.
Judge Hears and decides cases for the courts.
Law Librarian Maintains legal reference and research
materials for public use.
Additional
Services
The practice areas
mentioned elsewhere on this site are only guidelines as to the most
common types of areas of the practice of law. In addition to
practicing under the aforementioned areas of law, we are
knowledgeable and experienced in handling a wide variety of legal
issues for both individuals and business entitles. If you feel you
need advice with respect to an area of law you do not see mentioned
in these pages, please contact us for a free
consultation.
We Have Represented and Advised Clients In: | Divorce Custody Visitation Child
Support Personal
Injury Civil
Litigation Real Estate
Transactions Corporate Organization Bankruptcy Refinancing of
Mortgages
| - Collections
Mechanic's
Liens Probate Conservatorships Foreclosures Contracts Wills and
Trusts Commercial
Litigation Juvenile
Matters Selling a
Home
| |
|
Contact our Norwalk,
Connecticut, law
firm for all your divorce law, family law, real estate
law and other legal needs.
We proudly serve the
Towns and Cities of Norwalk, Greenwich,
Stamford, Darien, Wilton, New Canaan,
Westport, Southport, Fairfield, Redding, Trumbull, Monroe, Easton
and Weston and all of Fairfield County
Connecticut. Let an experienced
lawyer handle your
matter.
