| A | B |
|---|
| marriage | A legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. |
| common-law marriages | Occurs when a single woman and a single man have lived together, shared common property, and held themselves out as husband and wife over a prolonged period of time (usually 10 years or longer). |
| civil union | Offers many of the rights, duties, and benefits as marriage to those who elect to form it. |
| marital consortium | Mutual duties of a husband and a wife within marriage. |
| adoption | Creates a legal parent-child relationship. |
| prenuptial agreement | An agreement in which the marital partners-to-be explicitly state the property each party would be entitled to in the event of a divorce or death. This contract can protect specific assets of each party. |
| annulment | A legal procedure for declaring that a voidable marriage is null and void. |
| voidable marriage | Results from a problem that existed from the beginning of a marriage. |
| void marriage | Creates no rights or duties to either party to a marriage and is considered invalid from the beginning. |
| bigamist | A person who knowingly marries a second spouse while still married to the first. |
| divorce | Court action that ends a marriage and divides the property and remaining responsibilities between the parties. |
| dissolution | Termination of a marriage in a court that divides the remaining property and responsibilities between the parties. |
| no-fault divorce | Divorce in which the requesting spouse does not have to list a grievance against the other. |
| separation | Occurs prior to a divorce. Spouses maintain separate living quarters but all marital rights and obligations remain intact. |
| child custody | Concerns the division of the physical and other care and control responsibilities for a child. |
| child support | A monetary payment by a parent to provide a dependent child with appropriate economic maintenance. |
| alimony | Support paid by the wage earner of the family to the other spouse. |
