Chapter 13: Marriage, Divorce, and Family Mediation

Question 1

solemnization of marriage

Answer 1

the various steps and preliminaries, incl the ceremony, leading to marriage; authority over which was granted to the provinces

Question 2

nuclear family

Answer 2

mother, father, their children

Question 3

blended family

Answer 3

mother, father, their children born before and after the formation of the family unit, esp children of previous marriages

Question 4

extended family

Answer 4

family group consisting of parent(s), children, other close relatives

Question 5

essential requirements for marriage

Answer 5

conditions that must be met for a marriage to be valid (ex. legal capacity, genuine consent); under federal jurisdiction

Question 6

capacity

Answer 6

ability to understand the nature and effect of one’s actions, such as marriage; the legal ability to enter a contract on one’s behalf

Question 7

consanguinity

Answer 7

relationship by blood; as opposed to affinity

Question 8

affinity

Answer 8

relationship by marriage; a opposed to consanguinity

Question 9

marriage

Answer 9

voluntary union of a man and woman to the exclusion of all others; as affirmed in Parliament in 1999

Question 10

mistake

Answer 10

error concerning the existence of the subject matter of a contract; including common, unilateral, clerical, non est factum mistakes; in marriage law, an error concerning the identity of marriage partner or the nature of marriage ceremony

Question 11

monogamy

Answer 11

practice/condition of being married only to one person at a time; as opposed to bigamy

Question 12

bigamy

Answer 12

practice/condition of being married to more than one person at a time (2 ppl)

Question 13

consummation

Answer 13

validation of a marriage by sexual intercourse between the spouses

Question 14

impotence

Answer 14

inability of one or both spouses to have sexual intercourse; a ground for annulment

Question 15

sterility

Answer 15

inability to have children; as opposed to impotence; not a ground for annulment

Question 16

formal requirements of marriage

Answer 16

legal conditions for performing marriage ceremonies; under provincial and territorial jurisdiction

Question 17

banns of marriage

Answer 17

announcement of an intended marriage (ex. read in a couple’s church); an option to a marriage licence in some provinces

Question 18

procreation

Answer 18

creation of one’s offspring

Question 19

decree of nullity

Answer 19

court order giving an annulment

Question 20

petition for divorce

Answer 20

legal document that begins a divorce action, the procedure to end a valid marriage

Question 21

petitioner

Answer 21

spouse initiating a petition for divorce; as opposed to the respondent

Question 22

respondent

Answer 22

in a court case, the party (ex. Crown) who opposes the appeal requested by the other party, the appellant; in marriage law, the spouse being sued for divorce

Question 23

co-respondent

Answer 23

in divorce proceeding based on the respondent’s adultery, the person with whom he/she committed adultery

Question 24

reconciliation

Answer 24

renewal of a friendly and marital relation between spouses; a procedure for trying to save a marriage

Question 25

marriage breakdown

Answer 25

basis for divorce on the ground that the marriage is no longer funcitoninig; now the only valid ground for divorce in Canada

Question 26

no-fault divorce

Answer 26

legal dissolution of a marriage; granted if marriage breakdown is established

Question 27

family mediation

Answer 27

alternative dispute resolution process applied to issues within families; involving a neutral third party trying to get opposing parties to agree on issues (ex. custody of children)

Question 28

void

Answer 28

w/o legal force; invalid; as in a marriage or other contract

Question 29

annulment

Answer 29

ruling that a relationship never was a marriage; declared in a decree of nullity

Question 30

adultery

Answer 30

voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than his/her spouse