Glossary

Adultery

Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.
Common-law Partners

A couple living together without being married or in civil union. Some institutions qualify as some couples facto spouses according to the duration of cohabitation or when a child is born of their union.
Co-ownership

Property rights that jointly own by two or more people. The Civil Code of Quebec specifies that the shares of the joint owners are presumed equal.

Claim (Debt)

Personal right according to which the «creditor» can require (demand) from the «debtor» the execution of an obligation (bond), for example the payment of a debt.

Creditor

The person entitled to a claim. The claim can also be child support.

Debtor

Person being required to execute an obligation to another (the creditor).
Deprivation of parental authority
Total loss of the attributes of parental authority imposed by the court with regard to the father or mother only in cases where serious reasons or the interests of the child are justified.
Divorce
Divorce is a judgment that breaks the bonds or marriage.
Dependant child
Child of both spouses and former spouses who, at the relevant time, is in one of the following situations:
a) Child is a minor and at their charge;
b) Child is major and under their charge but unable, because of illness or disability, to withdraw from their charge or its own needs.
In most cases, an adult child in full-time education is considered to be a dependant child.
Attorney for the child
Lawyer who received the mandate to represent the child in a custody dispute, access rights or other dispute where his interest requires.
Separation from bed and board
A legal separation is a judgment which releases the spouses from their obligation to live together. It therefore applies only to married couples. All the legal consequences of a breach will be settled in the judgment separation. However, legal separation does not end the marriage and therefore their legal duties such as the duty of mutual respect, fidelity, aid and assistance. Merely back together for a period or more than 90 days will end the separation and a new family patrimony will be generated.
De facto separation
Factual situation where a couple live appart without obtaining a judgment of separation from bed and board or divorce.
Statu quo
Means maintaining the existing situation.
Subpoena (brief)
Court order requiring a person to appear at a date, time and a given place in order to give evidence or to produce a document. The expression subpoena duces tecum that the witness must also bring with him a document or object he has in his possession and they will be asked to produce.
Civil union
A civil union is an institution similar to marriage. The couple, same sex or not, publicly commit to a life together. The couple has rights and obligations towards one another virtually identical to marriage. The main distinction with the divorce is in the dissolution. While the marriage is dissolved by a decree of divorce, civil union may be dissolved by a simple notarized document.