Spousal Maintenance Legal Terminology

• Affidavit: A sworn, voluntary statement
• Agreement: A mutual understanding between two or more parties regarding each person agreed action to be performed in the past or future
• Answer: A respondent’s first pleading in response to petitioner’s allegations; if no answer is filed, the petitioner can obtain a default judgment
• Appeal: Proceeding to challenge a final decision made by a trial court; the case is delegated to a higher authority to determine if the trial court abused their legal discretion; a decision may be reversed on appeal
• Clear and convincing evidence: Evidentiary standard that requires the thing to be proved is highly probable or reasonably certain; this evidentiary standard is a lower burden than “beyond a reasonable doubt” which is used in criminal cases
• Contempt: Enforcement method for custody, child support, and spousal maintenance; when a party is in violation of a court order they may be found in contempt which is punishable by fine, jail time, or both
• Default: When served with court documents, you must legally file an answer; failure to do so can result in a default judgment, which will likely be unfavorable for your circumstances
• Discovery: The formal process of information gathering and sharing between the parties of a case
• Dissolution: The legal term for divorce; The Family Code refers to a divorce as a suit for dissolution of a marriage
• Divorce decree: The final divorce decree can be agreed or ordered by the court; sets out the division of the marital estate, child custody, child support, and any other provisions that are necessary for the circumstances; the divorce decree is an enforceable legal document
• Due process: Conduct implemented procedurally in order to protect your rights as an individual; due process includes right to notice and right to a fair hearing
• Fault grounds for divorce: Fault ground are rarely used as grounds for a divorce; typically  in a divorce case, fault grounds are used in determining how the marital property shall be split or determining if spousal maintenance is warranted in the circumstances; the statutory fault grounds in Texas include: cruelty; adultery; conviction of a felony; living apart for three years; abandonment for more than one year; and confinement to a mental hospital
• Filing: The act of providing the court with documents that are officially added to the case file
• Final orders: Final orders can be issued in the form of a Final Divorce Decree, Order in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship or other order that is intended by the parties and the court to be enforceable permanently
• Grounds for divorce: Most divorces are granted on no-fault grounds, however, The Texas Family Code provides fault grounds that can be plead for property division purposes and to obtain spousal maintenance; fault grounds in Texas include: adultery, cruelty, felony conviction, abandonment, living apart for more than three years, and confinement to a mental hospital for at least three years
• Injunction: A court order prohibiting or ordering a specific action; injunctions provide relief from harm when there is no other adequate remedy at law; injunctions can be granted on a temporary or permanent basis
• Judgment: A court’s final decision regarding the rights and obligations of parties involved in a case; also called a ruling or order
• Writ of withholding: A writ of withholding is used to withhold income from a party in order to fulfill that party’s obligation to pay child support or spousal maintenance
• Jurisdiction: A court’s ability to hear a case; jurisdiction has two components – the person and the subject matter; a court must have proper jurisdiction over the parties involved and subject matter of a case
• Just and Right division: The method used by the court when dividing the community estate at the time of divorce; court has wide discretion in determining what is “just and fair”; many factors are taken into consideration when the court makes the division
• Mandamus: An order from a court commanding a lower court to act in a particular way to correct previous actions of inaction
• Mandatory withholding: The state of Texas requires mandatory withholding of income to pay child support obligations; can withhold money from the parent’s income, wages, and severance pay; withholding is not mandatory if good cause is shown
• Motion: A request to the court – either written or oral, asking the court make a specific ruling or to act in a certain manner
• No-fault divorce: The majority of divorces are sought on no-fault grounds; No-fault divorces are granted on the basis of insupportability; a marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation
• Obligee: A person to whom an obligation to act is owed- typically used to describe the person who has the right to receive child support payments from the obligor
• Obligor: A person who has undertaken an obligation to act – typically used to describe the person who has a obligation to pay child support
• Petitioner:  A party that initiates a proceeding by filing a petition with a court
• Pro Se:  A party to a suit who represents themselves in a law suit
• Respondent:  The party who responds to a suit initiated by a Petitioner; sometimes referred to as defendant
• Service:  The formal delivery of official legal documents; also known as service of process; a person is entitled to notice under their due process right
• Spousal maintenance (alimony): A court may order payments to be made from one spouse to another if the spouse seeking spousal maintenance will lack sufficient property to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs; maintenance is presumed to be unwarranted, therefore the spouse seeking maintenance must meet the specific requirements to qualify for the support payment; payment is ordered in the final decree of divorce
• Spousal Support: Serves the same purpose as spousal maintenance however, instead of being ordered in the final decree, spousal support may ordered by the court during the divorce process via Temporary Orders
• Spouse: A person who you have a marital relationship whether being a formal marriage or informal (common law) marriage
• Standing:  A person’s ability to bring a suit in front of a court to make a legal claim or seek enforcement from a court
• Subpoena: The method used to compel a person to appear either in front of a court or other form of tribunal – including depositions; failing to appear may result in a penalty
• Temporary orders: Temporary orders can be obtained to govern property and children issues during the pendency of the divorce suit; custody, support, and provisions governing the temporary use of community property, can all be ordered via Temporary Orders
• Temporary restraining order: A party can request the court to issue an order prohibiting particular types of harassing conduct by one party to another; Temporary restraining orders (TROs) can eventually result in to temporary injunctions; notice and a hearing must take place shortly after TRO is issued