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;adultery:A married person's voluntary sexual intercourse with a person other than their spouse, also known as cheating, playing the field and fishing out of season. Proof of adultery is grounds for an immediate divorce, providing that the spouse complaining of the adultery can prove that the adultery occurred and that they have not consented to or forgiven the adulterous act. See "collusion," "condonation," and "divorce, grounds of."
;advance:In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a part of any property at issue before the property has been finally divided by court order or the parties' agreement, usually in order to help pay for that person's legal fees.
;Advisory Guidelines:Short for the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, an academic paper released by the Department of Justice that describes a variety of mathematical formulas that can be applied to determine how much spousal support should be paid and how long it should be paid for, once a spouse is found to be entitled to receive support. The Advisory Guidelines is are not a law, although it is they are pretty useful.
;advocate:(1) A lawyer or a person other than a lawyer who helps clients with legal issues, or (2) to argue a position on behalf of someone.
;affidavit:A legal document in which a person provides evidence of certain facts and events in writing. The person making the affidavit, the deponent, must confirm that the statements made in the affidavit are true by oath or affirmation. Affidavits must be signed in front of a lawyer, a notary public or a commissioner for taking oaths, who takes the oath or affirmation of the deponent. Affidavits are used as evidence, just as if the person making the affidavit had made the statements as a witness at trial. See "deponent", "affirm," "oath" and "witness."