Legal Definitions - corespondent

A corespondent refers to an additional party in a legal proceeding who, alongside another primary party, is required to respond to a petition, claim, or appeal. More specifically, in certain family law cases, particularly divorce proceedings based on adultery, the term refers to the person alleged to have engaged in an extramarital affair with one of the spouses.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of a corespondent:

• General Legal Context: Imagine a situation where a group of environmental activists files a lawsuit against a state agency for approving a new construction project, alleging it violates environmental regulations. The lawsuit names both the "State Environmental Protection Agency" and "Green Builders LLC," the company undertaking the construction, as parties who must respond to the legal challenge.

  In this situation, Green Builders LLC would be considered a corespondent because they are responding to the same lawsuit and allegations alongside the State Environmental Protection Agency, both having a vested interest in the outcome.

• Family Law Context (Divorce): Ms. Chen files for divorce from Mr. Chen, citing adultery as the legal grounds. In her divorce petition, she formally identifies "Dr. Lee" as the individual with whom Mr. Chen allegedly had an affair.

  Here, Dr. Lee is the corespondent. Even though Dr. Lee is not married to either Ms. Chen or Mr. Chen, they are named in the divorce proceedings because their alleged involvement is central to the specific legal basis (adultery) for the divorce.