Glossary
This is a list of terms you may hear when dealing with a family law matter. Some of these terms are defined by legislation like the Divorce Act and the Family Law Act. Others are defined by the New Brunswick Rules of Court or cases that interpret the legislation.
Argument: A statement or group of statements that you use to convince the court that your opinion is correct.
Abduction: Unlawfully removing a child under the age of 16 without the permission of the parent(s) with decision-making responsibility. Abduction is a crime in Canada. If the person removing the child is the child’s parent, they can be charged with abduction if the child is below the age of 14.
Adjournment: postponing a court hearing until another time.
Affidavit: a signed written statement of facts. Affidavits must be sworn or affirmed before a Commissioner of Oaths.
Applicant: a person who makes an application to the court.
Arrears: accumulated debt yet to be paid. For example, child support arrears can accumulate when child support have not been fully paid in the past.
“Best interests of the child”: this is the only standard a judge may consider when deciding parenting time or decision-making responsibility. See our page about the best interests of the child.
The best interests of the child is defined in section 50 of the Family Law Act as:
… all factors related to the circumstances of the child, including
(a) the child’s cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage, including First Nations upbringing and heritage,
(b) the child’s needs, including the need for stability, given the child’s age and stage of development,
(c) the nature and strength of the child’s relationship with each parent, each of the child’s siblings and grandparents and any other person who plays an important role in the child’s life,
(d) each parent’s willingness to support the development and maintenance of the child’s relationship with the other parent,
(e) the history of care of the child,
(f) the child’s views and preferences, giving due weight to the child’s age and maturity, unless they cannot be ascertained,
(g) any plans for the child’s care,
(h) the ability and willingness of each person in respect of whom the order would apply to care for and meet the needs of the child,
(i) the ability and willingness of each person in respect of whom the order would apply to communicate and cooperate, in particular with one another, on matters affecting the child,
(j) any family violence and its impact on, among other things,
(i) the ability and willingness of any person who engaged in the family violence to care for and meet the needs of the child, and
(ii) the appropriateness of making an order that would require persons in respect of whom the order would apply to cooperate on issues affecting the child, and
(k) any civil or criminal proceeding, order, condition or measure that is relevant to the safety, security and well-being of the child.
Child: a person who has not reached the age of majority. Under the Family Law Act, a child is specifically an unmarried person under the age of majority (19).
Child Support: parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children. A parent without the majority of parenting time usually pays child support to the parent with the majority of parenting time to help provide for the child. Payments can be arranged by agreement or by court order. See Child Support.
Commissioner of Oaths: a person who is legally appointed to take an oath or affirmation. Oaths and affirmations are required for signing sworn documents like affidavits.
Common law: usually refers to a couple who has lived together in a relationship of some permanence. How long a couple must live together to be considered common law can depend on the circumstances, usually ranging from 1-3 years. See Common-Law Partnerships.
Contempt of Court: most often, this means ignoring a court order or the Rules of Court. If a judge finds someone in contempt of court, they can punish that person in a number of ways, including by ordering them to
- do or not to do something.
- pay a fine
- pay costs to the other party
- in some extreme cases, serve a period of imprisonment
Court Order: a legally binding document made by a court and signed by a judge.
Court Administrator: the person who runs the administrative side of the Court of King’s Bench, Family Division.
Custody: When referring to parenting a child, this is an older term. See instead the entries on decision-making responsibility and parenting time.
De facto parenting arrangement: an informal parenting arrangement. This usually refers to the parenting schedules and arrangements that happen before the parties have a court order or formal agreement in place.
Decision-making responsibility: the responsibility for making significant decisions about a child’s well-being, including decisions about the child’s:
- health (such as whether to undergo a medical procedure)
- education (such as choice of school)
- culture, language, religion and spirituality (such as which faith the child will follow, if any)
- significant extra-curricular activities (meaning activities that require a relatively large investment of the parent’s time or financial resources)
See Decision-Making Responsibility.
Divorce: the legal end of a marriage. See Divorce and Separation.
Evidence: testimony by witnesses, objects identified by witnesses, or documents that are presented to the court to help the judge reach a decision.
Family Law: the laws and procedures that deal with legal rights and obligations between family members, married spouses, parents and children, and unmarried couples.
Family Division, Court of King’s Bench: a provincial trial court with jurisdiction over all matters in family law under provincial or federal legislation. See their website.
Family Legal Aid: a program of the New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission that helps people in financial need with some family law matters. See their website.
Final Order: a legally binding document made by a court and signed by a judge. A Final Order is usually made after a full trial.
Habitually Resident: Under the Family Law Act, a child is habitually resident in the place where the child last lived, either:
- with both parents,
- with one parent under a separation agreement, a court order or with the implied consent of the other, or
- with a person other than a parent for a significant period of time.
Hearing: A court proceeding to present evidence in court.
Interim Order: a court order that is meant to last temporarily, usually until there is a final trial in the case.
Joint Decision-Making Responsibility: when each parent continues to share the responsibility to make major decisions for the child. Parents with joint decision-making responsibility make decisions about bringing up the child together, but this does not necessarily mean the child lives an equal amount of time with both parents. For example, the child may live with only one parent while the other parent still has a say in major decisions. Joint decision-making responsibility requires parents to co-operate and communicate with each other. See Decision-Making Responsibility.
Judgment: the decision of the court in a legal proceeding. See also: court order, above.
Judicial District: Different regions within the province of New Brunswick, where regional family courts have jurisdiction. There are 8 Judicial Districts in New Brunswick, and each Judicial Districts is made up of 1 to 3 counties. Applications for parenting orders must be made in the judicial district where the child is habitually resident. To see a list of all Judicial Districts in New Brunswick, see this web page.
Jurisdiction: the court’s authority to hear the case before it.
Maintenance: an older word for child support and spousal support.
Marriage: The legal status of being married. Although sometimes the law treats people who live together the same as married people, you are never married until you go through a legal marriage ceremony.
Mediation: a way to settle family matters through negotiation with the help of a third person. The purpose of mediation is to help people work out an agreement together.
Motion: a court process where a party asks the court to make a decision on a certain question before, during or after a court proceeding.
Motion to change: a court process used to ask a judge to change a court order or agreement filed with the court.
Oath: a legally binding promise to tell the truth made by swearing on the Bible or other religious document, for example, the Koran. A person who does not want to swear on a religious document makes a solemn affirmation, which is a promise to tell the truth. This is as legally binding as an oath.
Parent: a mother or father, or an official guardian. This can include a person the child lives with and who treats the child as family.
Parenting Agreement: any agreement about decision-making responsibility and parenting time of a child.
Parenting Order: a court order that deals with decision-making responsibility and parenting time of a child.
Parenting Time: the time during which a parent is responsible for a child. This includes time when the child is not physically in the care of that person, such as when the child is at school or in daycare. See Parenting Time.
Party: someone involved in a court proceeding.
Perjury: to tell a lie in court after swearing to tell the truth. Perjury is a criminal offence.
Plaintiff: A person who brings a case against another in court.
Proceedings: any matter, criminal or civil, which goes to court.
Record on Motion: A record of all Affidavits, Motions, and other documents that a Motion participant intends to rely on for a Motion hearing. The Record on Motion must be filed with the court before at least 2 business days before the hearing.
Respondent: the person named in a Notice of Application or Motion. The Respondent can reply to the Application or Motion.
(Civil) Restraining Order: Order prohibiting someone with a family connection from doing something, usually from approaching or contacting a specific person. Some reasons why these Orders are used include:
- to stop someone from entering your house
- to stop a person from contacting your child
- to stop a person for harassing you or your child.
For more information on Restraining Orders, see our Peace Bonds and Protective Orders pamphlet at page 9.
Separation Agreement: a written agreement between spouses who intend to live apart. It can include arrangements for parenting time or decision-making responsibility, spousal and child support payments, division of property, and other matters.
Shared Parenting Time: an arrangement where each parent has parenting time at least 40% of the time. This includes time when the child is not physically in the care of that person, such as when the child is at school or in daycare. See Parenting Time.
Sole Decision-Making Responsibility: when one parent has the responsibility to make decisions about a child’s education, religion, healthcare, language, and general well-being. Decision-making responsibility can include many other important decisions about a child’s life. It is possible for one parent to have a decision-making responsibility for one area of a child’s life, for example religion, while the other parent has decision-making responsibility for another area such as medical care. See Decision-Making Responsibility.
Solicitor: in New Brunswick, this is another word for lawyer.
Special expenses: according to the Federal Child Support Guidelines, special expenses are expenses that are:
- necessary for the child’s best interests
- reasonable based on the means of both parents
special expenses are paid over and above the table amount of child support. They can include expenses like day care, medical and dental costs, and some education and extracurricular costs.
Split Parenting Time: a parenting arrangement where each parent has primary care of one or more of the children. That means each parent has one or more children living with them more than 60% of the time in the year. See Parenting Time.
Spousal Support: money paid by one spouse or common law partner to another after separation. Spousal support is meant to help pay for living expenses for someone who was financially dependent on their spouse or partner. Support is usually paid on a monthly basis. See Spousal Support.
Spouse: a legally married person or in some cases a person in a voidable or void marriage, but not common law partners in general.
Summons: a document telling a person when and where they must appear in court as a witness.
Supervised Parenting Time: refers to parenting time that takes place under the supervision of the parent with primary care of the child, or another adult. See Parenting Time.
Support Order: a court order to pay spousal support or child support. See Child and Spousal Support.
Testimony: statements made by a witness under oath in court.
Table amount: the basic amount of child support a parent must pay if they have the child in their care less than 40% of the time, according to the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The table amount is based on the paying parent’s income, the province or territory they live in, and the number of children they have.
Trial Record: Tells the court you are ready for a final trial. The Trial Record includes all Affidavits, Motions, court forms, and other documents filed with the court during a proceeding. Also includes a Certificate of Readiness (Form 47B) to show you are ready for a trial date.
Visitation Rights: This is an older term. Instead, see both parenting time and supervised parenting time, above.
Under Oath: after making an oath or solemn affirmation, a witness is bound to only tell the truth. If a person does not tell the truth under oath, that person is liable for perjury.
Undue Hardship: a specific kind of application asking the court to order an amount of child support lower than the table amount. The reasons a parent can claim undue hardship include:
- unusually high debts taken as a result of the parents’ separation
- unusually high costs to spend time with the child
- a legal obligation to support another dependent or child from another relationship
- a legal obligation to support another former or current spouse
Undue hardship requires significant difficulties or expenses. To successfully claim undue hardship, the parent making the claim must also have a lower standard of living than the other parent. Even if the court determines that a parent is facing undue hardship, it has full discretion to determine the appropriate amount of child support. You can read more here.
Witness: a person who testifies in court because they have some information about the case.