Marital Status :Marital Status. N. The condition of being single, married, divorced, separated, or widowed.
Matricide :Matricide. N. The killing of a mother by her child; a person who kills his or her own mother. matrimonial action. N. A lawsuit related to the marital status of the parties, such as an action for divorce, separation, or annulment.
Merger :Merger. N. (1) The combination of two or more entities, rights, or other things into a single whole, especially the absorption of the minor entities, rights, or things into the largest of them. (2) The combining of two or more corporations into one, with one of them absorbing the others into itself. (3) The [...]
Alimony :Alimony. N. An allowance ordered by the court that one spouse pays to the other after a divorce or separation for the support and maintenance of the recipient.
Annul :Annul. V. (1) To declare something invalid; to abolish; to make nonexistent. (2) To declare that a marriage was never legally valid and therefore never existed. N. annulment. See also divorce.
Antenuptial Agreement :Antenuptial Agreement. N. An agreement entered into by prospective spouses before their marriage, to take effect upon marriage. It usually contains provisions about support and distribution of property in the event of divorce or separation. See also prenuptial agreement.
Bed (And Board) :Bed (And Board). N. The right of a married couple to live together; (Latin) a mensa et thoro. See also divorce. belief. N. A conviction that something is true; something that one thinks or supposes after examining evidence and information. V. believe.
Child Support :Child Support. N. Financial contributions that a parent must make toward the upbringing of a child, usually paid by the parent who does not keep custody of the child after a divorce.
Collude :Collude. V. (1) Conspire; to agree secretly to commit some fraudulent act. (2) In a divorce proceeding, for the husband and wife to agree that one of them will commit some act that can be grounds for divorce. N. collusion.
Condonation :Condonation. N. In marriage, the forgiveness of some behavior that would be grounds for divorce by resuming cohabitation on the condition that the behavior not happen again.