Glossary

a term no longer used under the Family Law Act. Instead, the law now refers to which party the children will spend time with. That is based on the position that children are not property which one party has custody of and allows the other party to have access to.

the address given by a party to proceedings, where documents can be served on them by hand, post, or other forms of electronic communication.

postpone or defer a court event to another day.

the court has rules about what kind of evidence it will accept. Evidence that a court decides to accept is called “admissible evidence”.

is a written statement filed with the court by a party or witness. It must be sworn or affirmed before an authorised person (such as a Lawyer or a Justice of the Peace). An affidavit should contain statements of fact rather than arguments.

to solemnly promise to tell the truth in court or in an affidavit. An affirmation is made instead of areligious oath.

commonly used to refer to a person who acts on behalf of another person, with the agreement ofthe other person.

see “Family law watch list”.

a claim made by one party to a case about something that another party has done, or not done.An allegation needs to be proved in court.

a document referred to in an affidavit that is attached to the affidavit.

is a procedure that allows a party to challenge a decision made the court.

when a party or their lawyer goes to court for a case.

the person who makes an application to the court for Orders to be made.

see “Property pool”.