AUGUST 10, 2026

Legal English Vocabulary: Key Terms in Family Law
Welcome back to IngLesLegal! This week we turn to family law, one of the branches of US law that bilingual legal professionals encounter most often, since it directly affects immigrant families navigating divorce, custody, and support matters. Precise terminology here is essential, because family law vocabulary frequently overlaps with immigration and financial concepts in real client situations.
1. Custody
Meaning: The legal right and responsibility to make decisions about and care for a child, which can be sole (one parent) or joint (shared).
Equivalent English expressions: Child custody, parental custody, legal custody
Spanish equivalent: Custodia / Tenencia
Law branches: Family Law, Juvenile Law
Example: "The judge awarded joint custody, requiring both parents to agree on major decisions."
2. Alimony
Meaning: Court-ordered financial support paid by one spouse to the other after separation or divorce, intended to maintain a similar standard of living.
Equivalent English expressions: Spousal support, maintenance
Spanish equivalent: Pensión compensatoria / Manutención conyugal
Law branches: Family Law, Contract Law
Example: "The settlement included monthly alimony payments for five years."
3. Child Support
Meaning: Financial payments made by a non-custodial parent to help cover a child's living expenses, education, and healthcare.
Equivalent English expressions: Child maintenance payments
Spanish equivalent: Pensión alimenticia
Law branches: Family Law
Example: "He was ordered to pay child support until his daughter turns eighteen."
4. Prenuptial Agreement
Meaning: A written contract signed before marriage that outlines how assets and debts will be divided in the event of divorce or death.
Equivalent English expressions: Prenup, premarital agreement
Spanish equivalent: Acuerdo prenupcial / Capitulaciones matrimoniales
Law branches: Family Law, Contract Law
Example: "The couple signed a prenuptial agreement to protect the business she owned before the marriage."
5. Divorce Decree
Meaning: The final court order that legally ends a marriage and sets out the terms regarding property, custody, and support.
Equivalent English expressions: Final divorce judgment, dissolution decree
Spanish equivalent: Sentencia de divorcio
Law branches: Family Law, Civil Procedure
Example: "The divorce decree granted her primary custody and ownership of the family home."
6. Guardianship
Meaning: A legal relationship in which a court appoints a person to make decisions for a minor or an incapacitated adult who cannot care for themselves.
Equivalent English expressions: Legal guardianship, conservatorship (for adults in some states)
Spanish equivalent: Tutela / Curatela
Law branches: Family Law, Probate Law
Example: "The grandmother sought guardianship of her grandchildren after their parents became unable to care for them."
7. Visitation Rights
Meaning: The legal right of a non-custodial parent, or sometimes another relative, to spend time with a child under a court-approved schedule.
Equivalent English expressions: Parenting time, access rights
Spanish equivalent: Régimen de visitas
Law branches: Family Law
Example: "The father exercised his visitation rights every other weekend."
8. Annulment
Meaning: A court ruling that declares a marriage legally invalid, as though it never existed, usually based on fraud, bigamy, or lack of legal capacity.
Equivalent English expressions: Marriage annulment, nullity of marriage
Spanish equivalent: Anulación de matrimonio / Nulidad matrimonial
Law branches: Family Law
Example: "She filed for an annulment after discovering her husband was already married to someone else."
9. Restraining Order
Meaning: A court order that legally prohibits one person from contacting or approaching another, commonly used in domestic violence cases.
Equivalent English expressions: Protective order, order of protection
Spanish equivalent: Orden de alejamiento / Orden de protección
Law branches: Family Law, Criminal Law
Example: "The judge issued a restraining order preventing her ex-partner from coming within 500 feet of her home."
10. Adoption
Meaning: The legal process through which a person or couple becomes the permanent legal parent of a child who is not biologically their own.
Equivalent English expressions: Legal adoption, formal adoption
Spanish equivalent: Adopción
Law branches: Family Law, Juvenile Law
Example: "The adoption was finalized in family court after a six-month home study."
Family law vocabulary touches nearly every aspect of a client's personal life, which makes precision in both languages especially important. Keep practicing these terms in context, and come back next week for another set of essential legal English vocabulary.

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