Glossary
16. Joint Custody
Joint custody is a court order whereby custody of a child is awarded to both parties. Many states recognize two forms of joint custody: joint physical custody, and joint legal custody.
17. LLC
Form of doing business combining limited liability for all owners (called members) with taxation as a partnership. An LLC is formed by filing articles of organization with an appropriate state official. Rules governing LLCs vary significantly from state to state.
18. LPR
Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status is not a legal right but a revocable privilege, which means that an alien may lose his/her LPR status even after he/she has already received a Green Card. Although he/she is an LPR, he/she remains an "alien." It is therefore possible for him/her to lose LPR status under certain extreme circumstances.
19. Minor
"A person who has not reached full leagal age; a child or juvenile. - Also termed infant. "minority" 1. The state or condition of being under legal age. - Also termed infancy; nonage; immaturity.
20. misdemeanor
The difference between a misdemeanor and a felony is not always clear-cut from state to state in the US, or in other countries. In general, it is fair to say that a misdemeanor can be defined by the maximum length of time a person can be incarcerated for the crime, usually no more than one year. Crimes with a minimum jail time of over a year are usually felonies. In Ohio a misdemeanor of the first degree, that is M1, only carries a jail time up to 6-months.
21. Negligence
When a person acts or fails to act in a manner that a reasonable, prudent person would act under similar circumstances, the person is said to be negligent.
22. Pro Se
Pro se legal representation refers to the instance of a person representing himself or herself without a lawyer in a court proceeding, whether as a defendant or a plaintiff and whether the matter is civil or criminal. Pro se is a Latin phrase meaning "for oneself".
23. Shared Parenting
"Shared parenting is the term Ohio uses for what is sometimes commonly known as "joint custody." The court may allocate the parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the children to both parents and issue a shared parenting order requiring the parents to share all or some of the aspects of the physical and legal care of the children in accordance with the approved plan for shared parenting. It does not necessarily mean an equal, 50/50 division of time with the children, child support or any other of the issues dealing with the children.
24. Spousal Support
Formerly known as "alimony," payments that provide for the support and maintenance of a former spouse, as well as, for the equalization of income. Depending on the financial circumstances of the parties, the court may order the husband or the wife to pay Spousal Support to the other.
25. USCIS
An agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for ruling on immigration and naturalization matters and establishing immigration policies and priorities. USCIS was formerly called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and was part of the U.S. Department of Justice. On March 1, 2003, INS transitioned into DHS. Thus, INS no longer exists. USCIS functions include adjudication of immigrant visa petitions, adjudication of naturalization petitions, adjudication of asylum and refugee applications, adjudications performed at the service centers, and all other adjudications formerly performed by the INS.
26. VAWA
The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law. It was passed as Title IV, sec. 40001-40703 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 HR 3355 and signed as Public Law 103-322 by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. It provided $1.6 billion to enhance investigation and prosecution of the violent crime perpetrated against women, increased pre-trial detention of the accused, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted.
27. visa
A visa or travel visa is a document which gives someone permission to travel into a specific country and stay there for a set period of time. Visas may be stamped or glued directly into a passport for convenience, or they may be issued separately, in the form of documents which must be carefully protected to ensure that they are not lost or stolen. Some nations require everyone who enters to get a visa, while others have what are known as reciprocal agreements with certain nations which waive visa requirements. It is important to research visa requirements before traveling internationally, as in some cases travelers must apply for a visa before they attempt to cross a border.
28. waiting period
The five month waiting period simply means that SSA, or the social security administration, will withhold five months of an approved claimant's benefits.
