The U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that family members could not refuse life-sustaining medical treatment -- such as a feeding tube -- on behalf of incompetent patients, absent clear and convincing evidence that the refusal was in accordance with the patients' wishes.
U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that a woman who was named as the beneficiary of her former husband's 401(k) plan was entitled to inherit the money in the plan, even though state law said that the divorce had automatically revoked her right to inherit. Because a 401(k) plan is ruled by federal law (ERISA), it overruled the state law.
A man whose wife has died during the course of their marriage.
See: elective share
A woman whose husband has died during the course of their marriage.
The right to see a child regularly, typically awarded by the court to a parent who does not have primary physical custody of the child.
A law crafted by national lawmakers to promote consistency in prenuptial agreements from state to state. The UPAA governs such matters as what a premarital agreement can include and what will render an agreement unenforceable. The UPAA has been adopted in some form by most states.
A divorce in which the parties are able to agree on how to divide their property and share custody of their children, and join together in filing the appropriate paperwork to have the divorce granted. (See also: default divorce)
An order that tells one person to stop harassing or harming another, issued after the person being harassed appears before a judge or submits appropriate paperwork. A few days or weeks after the TRO is issued, the court holds a second hearing where the person being restrained can argue to the judge and the court can decide whether to make the TRO permanent by issuing an injunction. In domestic violence situations, the police tend to be more willing to intervene if there's a TRO in place and the abused spouse can show the other spouse is violating it.
