Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: derivative possession
A parent is someone who is either a mother or a father to another person. This can happen naturally when a baby is born to them, or it can happen through legal ways like adoption. Sometimes, people can also become temporary parents through foster care. If someone marries a person with a child, they become a stepparent, but they need to adopt the child to become a legal parent. Parents can lose their legal rights to a child if they give them up or if the state takes them away.
A parent is someone who is either the biological mother or father of a child, or someone who has legally become a parent through adoption or foster care. Parents are responsible for taking care of their children and making important decisions for them.
These examples illustrate the different ways in which someone can become a parent. In the first example, John and Mary became parents through childbirth. In the second example, Tom and Lisa became parents through adoption. In the third example, the foster family became temporary parents to Sarah while her biological parents were unable to care for her.