§ 580-102 — Definitions

§ 580-102. Definitions. In this article:\n (1) "Child" means an individual, whether over or under the age of\nmajority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the\nindividual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a\nsupport order directed to the parent.\n (2) "Child support order" means a support order for a child, including\na child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the\nissuing state or foreign country.\n (3) "Convention" means the Convention on the International Recovery of\nChild Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The\nHague on November twenty-third, two thousand seven.\n (4) "Duty of support" means an obligation imposed or imposable by law\nto provide support for a child, spouse, or former spouse, including an\nunsatisfied obligation to provide support.\n (5) "Foreign country" means a country, including a political\nsubdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the\nissuance of support orders and:\n (i) which has been declared under the law of the United States to be a\nforeign reciprocating country;\n (ii) which has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support\nwith this state as provided in section 580-308 of this article;\n (iii) which has enacted a law or established procedures for the\nissuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially\nsimilar to the procedures under this article; or\n (iv) in which the Convention is in force with respect to the United\nStates.\n (6) "Foreign support order" means a support order of a foreign\ntribunal.\n (7) "Foreign tribunal" means a court, administrative agency or\nquasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to\nestablish, enforce or modify support orders, or to determine parentage\nof a child. The term includes a competent authority under the\nConvention.\n (8) "Home state" means the state or foreign country in which a child\nlived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least six\nconsecutive months immediately preceding the time of filing of a\npetition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than\nsix months old, the state or foreign country in which the child lived\nfrom birth with any of them. A period of temporary absence of any of\nthem is counted as part of the six-month or other period.\n (9) "Income" includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money\nfrom any source and any other property subject to withholding for\nsupport as defined by section five thousand two hundred forty-one of the\ncivil practice law and rules.\n (10) "Income withholding order" means an order or other legal process\ndirected to an obligor's employer, an income payor as defined by section\nfive thousand two hundred forty-one or five thousand two hundred\nforty-two of the civil practice law and rules, or other debtor to\nwithhold support from the income of the obligor.\n (11) "Initiating tribunal" means the tribunal of a state or foreign\ncountry from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in\nwhich a petition or comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to\nanother state or foreign country.\n (12) "Issuing foreign country" means the foreign country in which a\ntribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a\nchild.\n (13) "Issuing state" means the state in which a tribunal issues a\nsupport order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.\n (14) "Issuing tribunal" means the tribunal of a state or foreign\ncountry that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage\nof a child.\n (15) "Law" includes decisional and statutory law and rules and\nregulations having the force of law.\n (16) "Obligee" means:\n (i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be\nowed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining\nparentage of a child has been issued;\n (ii) a foreign country, state or political subdivision of a state to\nwhich the rights under a duty of support or support order have been\nassigned or which has independent claims based on financial assistance\nprovided to an individual obligee in place of child support;\n (iii) an individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the\nindividual's child; or\n (iv) a person that is a creditor in a proceeding under part seven of\nthis article.\n (17) "Obligor" means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that:\n (i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support;\n (ii) is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a\nchild;\n (iii) is liable under a support order; or\n (iv) is a debtor in a proceeding under part seven of this article.\n (18) "Outside this state" means a location in another state or a\ncountry other than the United States, whether or not the country is a\nforeign country.\n (19) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust,\nestate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,\njoint venture, public corporation, government or governmental\nsubdivision, agency or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial\nentity.\n (20) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium\nor that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in\nperceivable form.\n (21) "Register" means to file in a tribunal of this state a support\norder or judgment determining parentage of a child issued in another\nstate or a foreign country.\n (22) "Registering tribunal" means a tribunal in which a support order\nor judgment determining parentage of a child is registered.\n (23) "Responding state" means a state in which a petition or\ncomparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is\nfiled or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded for\nfiling from another state or a foreign country.\n (24) "Responding tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in a\nresponding state or foreign country.\n (25) "Spousal-support order" means a support order for a spouse or\nformer spouse of the obligor.\n (26) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of\nColumbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any\nterritory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United\nStates. The term includes an Indian nation or tribe.\n (27) "Support enforcement agency" means a public official,\ngovernmental entity or private agency authorized to:\n (i) seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of\nsupport;\n (ii) seek establishment or modification of child support;\n (iii) request determination of parentage of a child;\n (iv) attempt to locate obligors or their assets; or\n (v) request determination of the controlling child support order.\n (28) "Support order" means a judgment, decree, order, decision or\ndirective, whether temporary, final or subject to modification, issued\nin a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse or a\nformer spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care,\narrearages, retroactive support or reimbursement for financial\nassistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support.\nThe term may include related costs and fees, interest, income\nwithholding, automatic adjustment, reasonable attorney's fees and other\nrelief.\n (29) "Tribunal" means a court, administrative agency, or\nquasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify\nsupport orders or to determine parentage of a child.\n