Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 25 > Chapter 4 > Article 1 - Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time

• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• In loco parentis: means a person who has been treated as a parent by a child and who has formed a meaningful parental relationship with a child for a substantial period of time. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Joint legal decision-making: means both parents share decision-making and neither parent's rights or responsibilities are superior except with respect to specified decisions as set forth by the court or the parents in the final judgment or order. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Legal decision-making: means the legal right and responsibility to make all nonemergency legal decisions for a child including those regarding education, health care, religious training and personal care decisions. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Legal parent: means a biological or adoptive parent whose parental rights have not been terminated. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Minor: means a person under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Parenting time: means the schedule of time during which each parent has access to a child at specified times. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Sole legal decision-making: means one parent has the legal right and responsibility to make major decisions for a child. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Visitation: means a schedule of time that occurs with a child by someone other than a legal parent. See Arizona Laws 25-401
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215