Section 25-9B-101 - Definitions.
25-9B-101. Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) "Child" means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent;
(2) "Child support order" means a support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state;
(3) "Duty of support" means an obligation imposed or imposable by law to provide support for a child, spouse, or former spouse, including an unsatisfied obligation to provide support;
(4) "Home state" means the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least six consecutive months immediately preceding the time of filing of a petition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than six months old, the state in which the child lived from birth with any of them. A period of temporary absence of any of them is counted as part of the six-month or other period;
(5) "Income" means any form of payment to a person, regardless of source, including, but not limited to wages, salary, commission, bonuses, compensation as an independent contractor, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, disability, annuity and retirement benefits, gift or inheritance, all gain derived from capital or labor, profit gained through the sale or conversion of capital assets, and any other payments, including personal property, money, and credits on deposit with or in the possession of, or made by any person, private entity, federal or state government, any unit of local government, school district, or any entity created by public act. However, for purposes of income withholding, income excludes:
(i) Any amount required by law or as a condition of employment to be withheld, other than creditor claims, including federal, state, and local taxes, social security, and other retirement contributions;
(ii) Any amount exempted by federal law; and
(iii) Public assistance payments;
(6) "Income-withholding order" means an order or other legal process directed to any payor as defined in subdivision 25-7A-1(14) to withhold support from the income of the obligor;
(7) "Initiating state" means a state from which a proceeding is forwarded or in which a proceeding is filed for forwarding to a responding state under this Act or a law or procedure substantially similar to this Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act;
(8) "Initiating tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in an initiating state;
(9) "Issuing state" means the state in which a tribunal issues a support order or renders a judgment determining parentage;
(10) "Issuing tribunal" means the tribunal that issues a support order or renders a judgment determining parentage;
(11) "Law" includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law;
(12) "Obligee" means:
(i) Any person or entity to whom a duty of support is owed or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order has been issued or a judgment determining parentage has been rendered;
(ii) A state or political subdivision to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or which has an independent claim based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee; or
(iii) A person seeking a judgment determining parentage of the person's child; (13) "Obligor" means any person, or the estate of any person:
(i) Who owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support;
(ii) Who is alleged but has not been adjudicated to be a parent of a child; or
(iii) Who is liable under a support order;
(14) "Register" means to record a support order or judgment determining parentage in the appropriate location for the recording or filing of foreign judgments generally or foreign support orders specifically;
(15) "Registering tribunal" means a tribunal in which a support order is registered;
(16) "Responding state" means a state in which a proceeding is filed or to which a proceeding is forwarded for filing from an initiating state under this Act or a law substantially similar to this Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act;
(17) "Responding tribunal" means the authorized tribunal in a responding state;
(18) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term, state, also includes an Indian tribe and a foreign jurisdiction that has enacted laws or established procedures for issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures under this chapter or the procedures under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act;
(19) "Support enforcement agency" means a public official or agency authorized to seek:
(i) Enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support;
(ii) Establishment or modifications of child support;
(iii) Determination of parentage; or
(iv) To locate obligors or their assets;
(20) "Support order" means a judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued by a court or an administrative agency of competent jurisdiction, which provides for the support and maintenance of a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state, or of the parent with whom the child is living, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, or reimbursement, and which may include costs and fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, attorney's fees, and other relief;
(21) "Tribunal" means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage;
(22) "Spousal-support order" means a support order for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor.
Source: SL 1994, ch 206, § 101; SL 1997, ch 155, § 38; SL 1998, ch 157, § 12.