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- Point in Time (19/08/1996)
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Version Superseded: 01/12/2000
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(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“action” means an action brought after the commencement of this Act;
“action for aliment” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(3) of this Act;
“aliment” does not include alimentpendente lite or interim aliment under section 6 of this Act;
“caravan” means a caravan which is mobile or affixed to the land;
“child” includes [F1a child whether or not his parents have ever been married to one another], and any reference to the child of a marriage (whether or not subsisting) includes a child (other than a child who has been boarded out with the parties, or one of them, by a local or other public authority or a voluntary organisation) who has been accepted by the parties as a child of the family;
[F2“child support maintenance” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(6) of the Child Support Act 1991;]
“the court” means the Court of Session or the sheriff, as the case may require;
“decree” in an action for aliment includes an order of the court awarding aliment;
“family” includes a one-parent family;
“incidental order” has the meaning assigned to it by section 14(2) of this Act;
[F2“maintenance assessment” has the meaning assigned to it by section 54 of the Child Support Act 1991;]
“marriage”, in relation to an action for declarator of nullity of marriage, means purported marriage;
“matrimonial home” has the meaning assigned to it by section 22 of the M1Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 [F3as amended by section 13(10) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1985];
“needs” means present and foreseeable needs;
“obligation of aliment” shall be construed in accordance with section 1(2) of this Act;
“order for financial provision” means an order under section 8(2) of this Act and, in sections 18(1) and 22(c) of this Act, also includes an order under section 5(2) of the M2Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976;
“party to a marriage” and “party to the marriage” include a party to a marriage which has been terminated or annulled;
“property” in sections 8, 12, 13 and 15 of this Act does not include a tenancy transferable under section 13 of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981;
“resources” means present and foreseeable resources;
“voluntary organisation” means a body, other than a local or other public authority, the activities of which are not carried on for profit.
(2)For the purposes of this Act, the parties to a marriage shall be held to cohabit with one another only when they are in fact living together as man and wife.
Textual Amendments
F1Words substituted by Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 (c. 9, SIF 49:8), ss. 10(1), 11(4), Sch. 1 para. 21
F2Definitions in s. 27(1) inserted (5.4.1993) by S.I. 1993/660, art. 2(6).
F3Words added by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1985 (c. 73, SIF 76:2), ss. 23, 59, 60(6), Sch 2 para. 31
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