desert
Desert means to intentionally abandon a person or thing. Some common uses of the term desert in a legal sense include:
- Cases such as this one from New Jersey explain that the term “desert” in the context of marriage and child support , usually has a broader meaning which extends to “a willful failure to provide food, or other basic necessities of life over and above mere shelter, to parties living in the same household .”
- The term “desert” in the context of child endangerment laws, usually requires a showing that the defendant had no intention to return for the child.
[Last reviewed in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team ]
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