§ 14-14-102 — Definitions

Colorado § 14-14-102

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 14: Domestic
• Art.: Child Support Enforcement

Text

As used in this article 14, unless the context
otherwise requires:

(1) Court means any court in this state having jurisdiction to determine the
liability of persons for the support of another person.

(2) Delegate child support enforcement unit means the unit of a county
department of human or social services or its contractual agent that is responsible
for carrying out the provisions of this article 14. The term contractual agent
includes a private child support collection agency, operating as an independent
contractor with a county department of human or social services, or a district
attorney's office, that contracts to provide any services that the delegate child
support enforcement unit is required by law to provide.

(3) Dependent child means any person who is legally entitled to or the
subject of a court order for the provision of proper or necessary subsistence,
education, medical care, or any other care necessary for his health, guidance, or
well-being who is not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a
member of the armed forces of the United States.

(4) Duty of support means a duty of support imposed by law or by order,
decree, or judgment of any court, whether interlocutory or final, or whether
incidental to an action for divorce, separation, separate maintenance or otherwise.
Duty of support includes the duty to pay arrearages of support past-due and
unpaid.

(4.3) Employer, for purposes of income withholding pursuant to section 14-5-501, includes any person, company, or corporation, Pinnacol Assurance, or other
insurance carrier paying any type of workers' compensation benefits pursuant to
articles 40 to 47 of title 8, C.R.S.

(4.5) Family support registry means a central registry maintained and
operated by the state department of human services pursuant to section 26-13-114,
C.R.S., that receives, processes, disburses, and maintains a record of the payment
of child support, child support when combined with maintenance, maintenance,
child support arrears, or child support debt.

(4.7) Health insurance means medical insurance or medical and dental
insurance coverage or both of human beings against bodily injury or illness. Such
coverage may be provided through a parent's employer or may be acquired
individually by the parent.

(5) Obligee means any person or agency to whom a duty of support is owed
or any person or agency who has commenced a proceeding for the establishment or
enforcement of an alleged duty of support.

(6) Obligor means any person owing a duty of support, or against whom a
proceeding for the establishment or enforcement of a duty of support is
commenced.

(6.5) Plan means a group health benefit plan or combination of plans, other
than public assistance programs, that provides medical care or benefits for a child.
Plan includes, but is not limited to, a health maintenance organization, self-funded group, state or local government group health plan, church group plan,
medical or health service corporation, or other similar plan.

(7) Public assistance means assistance payments and social services
provided to or on behalf of eligible recipients through programs administered or
supervised by the state department of human services, either in cooperation with
the federal government or independently without federal aid, pursuant to article 2
of title 26, or by the department of early childhood pursuant to part 1 of article 4 of
title 26.5.

(8) Support order means any judgment, decree, or order of support in favor
of an obligee, whether temporary or final or subject to modification, revocation, or
remission, regardless of the kind of action or proceeding in which it is entered.

(9) Wages means income to an obligor in any form, including, but not
limited to, actual gross income; compensation paid or payable for personal services,
whether denominated as wages; earnings from an employer; salaries; payment to
an independent contractor for labor or services; commissions; tips declared by the
individual for purposes of reporting to the federal internal revenue service or tips
imputed to bring the employee's gross earnings to the minimum wage for the
number of hours worked, whichever is greater; rents; bonuses; severance pay;
retirement benefits and pensions, including, but not limited to, those paid pursuant
to articles 51, 54, 54.5, and 54.6 of title 24, and article 30 of title 31; workers'
compensation benefits; social security benefits, including social security benefits
actually received by a parent as a result of the disability of that parent or as the
result of the death of the minor child's stepparent, but not including social security
benefits received by a minor child or on behalf of a minor child as a result of the
death or disability of a stepparent of the child; disability benefits; dividends;
royalties; trust account distributions; any moneys drawn by a self-employed
individual for personal use; funds held in or payable from any health, accident,
disability, or casualty insurance to the extent that such insurance replaces wages
or provides income in lieu of wages; monetary gifts; monetary prizes, excluding
lottery winnings not required by the rules of the Colorado lottery commission to be
paid only at the lottery office; taxable distributions from general partnerships,
limited partnerships, closely held corporations, or limited liability companies;
interest; trust income; annuities; payments received from a third party to cover the
health-care cost of the child but which payments have not been applied to cover
the child's health-care costs; state tax refunds; and capital gains. Wages, for the
purposes of child support enforcement, may also include unemployment
compensation benefits, but only subject to the provisions and requirements of
section 8-73-102 (5).

Legislative History

Source: L. 81: Entire article added, p. 905, � 1, effective June 8. L. 82: (3) amended, p. 281, � 4, effective April 2. L. 83: (3) amended, p. 651, � 1, effective March 3. L. 84: (9) added, p. 480, � 1, effective July 1. L. 87: (9) amended, p. 596, � 26, effective July 10. L. 89: (9) amended, p. 793, � 17, effective July 1. L. 90: (4.5) added, p. 1414, � 14, effective June 8; (2) and (9) amended, pp. 891, 564, �� 12, 36, effective July 1. L. 92: (9) amended, p. 578, � 6, effective July 1; (4.7) added, p. 169, � 3, effective August 1. L. 93: (9) amended, p. 1872, � 6, effective June 1. L. 94: (9) amended, p. 1539, � 7, effective May 31; (4.5)(a) and (7) amended, p. 2646, � 109, effective July 1; (9) amended, p. 1253, � 7, effective July 1. L. 96: (4.5) and (9) amended, p. 599, � 9, effective July 1. L. 97: (4.3) added, p. 562, � 7, effective July 1. L. 98: (9) amended, p. 921, � 8, effective July 1. L. 99: (9) amended, p. 621, � 16, effective August 4. L. 2001: (4.3) amended, p. 721, � 3, effective May 31. L. 2002: (4.3) amended, p. 1892, � 52, effective July 1; (6.5) added, p. 23, � 1, effective July 1. L. 2003: (2) amended, p. 1265, � 52, effective July 1. L. 2004: (4.5) amended, p. 387, � 3, effective July 1. L. 2005: (2) amended, p. 498, � 2, effective August 8. L. 2009: (9) amended, (SB 09-282), ch. 288, p. 1397, � 60, effective January 1, 2010. L. 2018: IP and (2) amended, (SB 18-092), ch. 38, p. 401, � 16, effective August 8. L. 2020: (9) amended, HB (20-1402), ch. 216, p. 1045, � 24, effective June 30. L. 2022: (7) amended, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 829, � 31, effective July 1.