R – Maryland Family Law Dictionary
RATIFY – To confirm or make valid.
RANGE OF VALUE – the range, or confidence interval, in which the final estimate of a property’s value may lie.
REAL ESTATE – physical land and appurtenances affixed to the land: land.
REAL PROPERTY – all interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of physical real estate.
REALTY TRANSFER TAX – a state or local levy imposed in some jurisdictions upon the sale or transfer of real estate.
REBUTTAL – an introduction of evidence in response to a matter raised by the opposing party.
RECAPTURE – refers to the rises ability to capture taxes on income distributed as part of a divorce agreement.
RECIPROCITY – the process of cooperation between states and countries to establish and enforce child support orders. Laws and court orders of each jurisdiction are recognized and enforced.
RECORD – all of the testimony and evidence that is used in court to decide a case. What is on record is what the Judge will use to make his or her decision.
RECRIMINATION – the counterclaim, for example, when both parties in a divorce allege adultery.
RECROSS – the second round of cross – examination that occurs after redirect in a trial.
RECUSAL – the disqualification of a judge because of bias or prejudice.
REDIRECT – the second round of direct examination that occurs in the trial after cross-examination.
REFINANCE – the renegotiation of the terms and conditions of debt.
REGISTRY – the entity through which the court receives and disburses money, as in child support payments.
REHABILITATIVE ALIMONY – alimony intended to help the exspouse become financial self sufficient.
REIMBURSEMENT – a fixed amount stated in a judgment which would order the defendant to pay back to the government welfare which the government paid on behalf of the child.
RELEASE – a document that frees up a person’s right or claimed right to something. It is usually given in exchange for something else, typically another release or money.
RELIEF – assistance, compensation, mitigation from a court or agency.
RELIEVED AS COUNSEL – the court’s approval of the withdrawal of an attorney from representation.
RELIGIOUS ANNULMENT – a decree from a religious body judging a marriage null and void.
RELIGIOUS DIVORCE – a nonsecular dissolution of a marriage by a religious body or ecclesiastical court.
RELOCATION (REMOVAL) OF A MINOR CHILD – a legal action, usually brought about by complaint or petition, by the custodial parent to move (or remove) a minor child from a state.
REMAND – the act of sending a case back to the judge to be retried because of a significant mistake made by the judge during the first trial.
REPLACEMENT COST – the estimated cost of construct, at current prices, a building with utility equivalent to the building being appraised, using modern materials and current standards, design, and layout, and quality of workmanship, and embodying all the subject’s deficiencies, superadquacies, and obsolescence.
REPRODUCTION COST – the estimated cost to construct, at current prices, a building with utility equivalent to the building being appraised, using modern materials and current standards, design, and layout, and quality of workmanship, and embodying all the subject’s deficiencies, superadquacies, and obsolescence.
REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS – a type of discovery in which a party is asked to answer questions yes or no.
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION – part of the Discovery process. One attorney asks that the other side produce financial documents he or she feels are necessary to the case.
RES JUDICATA – a Latin term meaning “thing adjudged.”
RESIDENCE – the place where a spouse lives.
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT – the length of time a person must live in a state before becoming eligible to file for divorce there.
RESPONDENT – the defendant in a divorce.
RESPONSE – the formal document filed by the defendant (respondent) to answer the complaint or summons.
RETAINER – a fee paid to an attorney to work on a case.
RETAINER AGREEMENT – a written contract between lawyer and client delineating their responsibilities to each other.
RETIREMENT – generally, the years after a person’s career occupation ends and he or she stops working full time or works on a reduced schedule.
RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS – individual, professional, tax-sheltered or tax-deferred accounts such as IRAs, SEPs, Keoghs, ESOPs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457s.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS – compensation paid an employee after his or her working years are finished.
RETROACTIVE RELIEF – backward reaching mitigation, aid, or assistance.
RETURN DATE – a future date when a court hears arguments on motions, cross motions and orders to show cause after the parties have received appropriate notice.
REVERSAL – an action taken by an appeals court when it decides a lower court’s decision and judgment is flawed.
RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP – the right of joint owners to receive the other’s share of property upon the death of the other owner.
RULES OF EVIDENCE – the rules that pertain to the deliverance of evidence in hearings or depositions.
RURESA – Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, an act facilitating interstate enforcement of support orders.
