N – Maryland Family Law Dictionary
NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN (NCMEC) – works with parents and police in locating and preventing the exploitation of children.
NECESSARIES – the common law doctrine that if a person fails to support another to whom he has a duty to support, he or she becomes liable to the third parties who provide the necessaries, such as a grocer.
NEGLIGENCE – a term applied to a person whose carelessness or lack of attention fails to square with the assumed level of care that a person is assumed to have.
NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT; NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT – when the parties, usually with counsel, develop a separation agreement that is not mediated or arbitrated.
NESTING – a temporary custody arrangement whereby the child remains in the marital home and the parents, each in turn and on a weekly or monthly schedule, make the house his or her residence.
NO-FAULT DIVORCE – a type of divorce that may be granted even though either spouse has not performed any kind of marital misconduct.
NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT – the parent who does not have physical custody of the child, and who typically is paying child support to the child.
NON-MARITAL PROPERTY – property considered by the courts to belong to one spouse or another and that which is not available for equitable distribution.
NONQUALIFIED PLAN – an employment or retirement plan not regulated by ERISA, including many deferred pay plans such as ESOPs, stock options and other future-based compensation plans.
NOTICE TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS – a vehicle used in discovery, it is a request to produce documents.
NOTICE TO TAKE (ORAL) DEPOSITION – a request for the other party to appear at a specific place and time for an oral examination under oath.
NULLITY – a decree indicating that a marriage is null and void.
NUNC PRO TUNC – a Latin term meaning “for now for then.”
NUPTIAL – of or pertaining to marriage.
