One of the baffling things about the English language — and language altogether — is that sometimes one word can mean several things, and it’s hard to know exactly what someone means if you don’t know all the meanings of a flexible word or phrase.

In this post, I want to talk about the word ‘complaint’, when used as a legal term, which is a bit more specific than run-of-the-mill whining (about the weather, poor service, etc.) or complaining that the food on your plate isn’t what you ordered or expected.

In a legal context, the word ‘complaint’ refers to an official filing at the beginning of a legal action, and it’s effectively the creation of a box that holds all of the documents relating to the issues in dispute. 

A Complaint is similar to  a ‘Petition’, however a Petition can be filed jointly by agreement between parties, as opposed to a Complaint which is filed without agreement and by one party only.

In a divorce context, the practical reality of these words manifests most frequently when parties either agree to file a Joint Petition for the Irretrievable Breakdown of their Marriage, or a Complaint is filed by one person (most typically also for irretrievable breakdown though people can also file for cause, such as cruel and abusive treatment).  The major pragmatic difference between these two actions is that a Joint Petition can only be filed when both parties have agreed to all of the settlement terms and simultaneously file an Agreement contracting them to its terms.  

There’s an old adage, that “Marriage is about love while divorce is about money” — and that is indeed one of the most common reasons a Complaint is  filed. But issues surrounding children from the marriage may also be in dispute: the questions of how, where and by whom they will be raised can become intractable problems that parents are unable to negotiate without the help of the traditional divorce process.

In this context, there may be several informal complaints, but the official Complaint will be the action which potentially shifts the nature of the marriage, seeking to dissolve the marital union and create new parameters for a family. However, despite the marital dissolution, it is not a family dissolution, and to see it as one does a disservice to everyone involved. 

Perhaps as an alternative to filing a Complaint, people seeking to dissolve their marriage could file for a Restructuring, much as in a bankruptcy case one might file for a Reorganization instead of a Liquidation- especially in cases where children are involved. It seems to me that the language we use matters. Please let us know in the comments for this blog, how you feel about legal lingo, this breakdown and its impact on families.