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iGlossary
A list of family law terminology to help better understand what lawyers are talking about and some of the specific terms used. This glossary provides general information only. Professional advice should always be taken and we cannot accept any liability for reliance on it.
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Reconciliation
Is the attempt to repair or save a relationship, sometimes assisted by counsellors. Not to be confused with mediation or conciliation.
Remuneration Certificate
The certificate issued by the Law Society confirming the level of fees that it considers appropriate to be charged. It is only obtained on request from a client complaining about his/her solicitor’s bill (or occasionally at the instigation of the solicitor him/herself). The process is not available once proceedings are issued ("contentious work"). Here the court will confirm the level of appropriate fees (see “detailed assessment” and “taxation").
Residence order
Settles the arrangements about where a child should live. (This was formerly known as “Care and control"). A Joint Residence Order in favour of both parents for differing periods can sometimes be granted.
Resolution
The new, and rather confusing, name of the Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA), the organisation of 5000 family law solicitors who commit to conducting cases according to a conciliatory and settlement focused code of conduct, and which has been actively involved in encouraging good practice and law reform.
Respondent
Refers to the party in the proceedings who is responding to the application - the term can be used specifically (referring to the Respondent to the divorce proceedings) or more generally when the reference is to the party responding to an application made by another, “the Applicant”.
Retainer
Could lawyers have anything as simple and straight-forward as “terms of business”? Instead, there is a “retainer” which refers to the whole range of contractual and professional obligations to a client and the terms on which a client instructs solicitors. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we prefer “terms of business”!
Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ)
See Principal Registry of the Family Division
