                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 20-88.32)

In this chapter:
		&#8220;Child&#8221; 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&#8217;s parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a
support order directed to the parent.
		&#8220;Child support order&#8221; means a support order for a child, including
a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state
or foreign country.
		&#8220;Convention&#8221; means the Convention on the International Recovery of
Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on
November 23, 2007.
		&#8220;Duty of support&#8221; 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.
		&#8220;Employer&#8221; means the source of any income as defined in §
63.2-1900.
		&#8220;Foreign country&#8221; means a country, including a political
subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance
of support orders and:

1. That has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign
reciprocating country;

2. That has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with the
Commonwealth as provided in &#xA7; 20-88.50;

3. That has enacted a law or established procedures for the issuance and
enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures
under this chapter; or

4. In which the Convention is in force with respect to the United States.
			&#8220;Foreign support order&#8221; means a support order of a foreign
tribunal.
			&#8220;Foreign tribunal&#8221; means a court, administrative agency, or
quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to establish,
enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. The term
includes a competent authority under the Convention.
			&#8220;Home state&#8221; means the state or foreign country 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 or
foreign country 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.
			&#8220;Income&#8221; includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to
money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support
under the law of the Commonwealth.
			&#8220;Income-withholding order&#8221; means an order or other legal process
directed to an obligor&#8217;s employer or other debtor, to withhold support
from the obligor&#8217;s income as defined in &#xA7; 63.2-1900.
			&#8220;Initiating tribunal&#8221; means the tribunal of a state or foreign
country from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in which a
petition or comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to another state or
foreign country.
			&#8220;Issuing foreign country&#8221; means the foreign country in which a
tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.
			&#8220;Issuing state&#8221; means the state in which a tribunal issues a
support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.
			&#8220;Issuing tribunal&#8221; means the tribunal of a state or foreign
country that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a
child.
			&#8220;Law&#8221; includes decisional and statutory law and rules and
regulations having the force of law.
			&#8220;Obligee&#8221; means (i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or
is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment
determining parentage of a child has been issued, (ii) a foreign country, state,
or political subdivision of a state to which the rights under a duty of support
or support order have been assigned or which has independent claims based on
financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child
support, (iii) an individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the
individual&#8217;s child, or (iv) a person that is a creditor in a proceeding
under Article 13 (&#xA7; 20-88.83 et seq.).
			&#8220;Obligor&#8221; means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that
(i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support, (ii) is alleged but has not
been adjudicated to be a parent of a child, (iii) is liable under a support
order, or (iv) is a debtor in a proceeding under Article 13 (&#xA7; 20-88.83 et
seq.).
			&#8220;Outside the Commonwealth&#8221; means a location in another state,
political subdivision of a state, or a country other than the United States,
whether or not the country is a foreign country.
			&#8220;Person&#8221; means an individual, corporation, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint
venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or
instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
			&#8220;Record&#8221; means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium
or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in
perceivable form.
			&#8220;Register&#8221; means to file in a tribunal of the Commonwealth a
support order or judgment determining parentage of a child issued in another
state or a foreign country.
			&#8220;Registering tribunal&#8221; means a tribunal in which a support order
or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered.
			&#8220;Responding state&#8221; means a state or a foreign country in which a
petition or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child
is filed or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded for filing
from another state or a foreign country.
			&#8220;Responding tribunal&#8221; means the authorized tribunal in a
responding state or foreign country.
			&#8220;Spousal-support order&#8221; means a support order for a spouse or
former spouse of the obligor.
			&#8220;State&#8221; means a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or
insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States. The term
includes an Indian nation or tribe.
			&#8220;Support enforcement agency&#8221; means a public official,
governmental entity, or private agency authorized to (i) seek enforcement of
support orders or laws relating to the duty of support, (ii) seek establishment
or modification of child support, (iii) request determination of parentage of a
child, (iv) attempt to locate obligors or their assets, or (v) request
determination of the controlling child support order. A support enforcement
agency of the Commonwealth is not authorized to establish or enforce a support
order for spousal support only.
			&#8220;Support order&#8221; means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or
directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a
state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former
spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages,
retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an
individual obligee in place of child support. The term may include related costs
and fees, interest, income withholding, automatic adjustment, reasonable
attorney&#8217;s fees, and other relief.
			&#8220;Tribunal&#8221; means a court, administrative agency, or
quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders
or to determine parentage of a child; however, the support enforcement agency of
the Commonwealth has no authority to establish or enforce a support order for
spousal support only.

HISTORY: 1994, c. 673; 1995, c. 484; 1996, cc. 882, 925; 1997, cc. 797, 897;
1998, c. 727; 2005, c. 754; 2015, c. 727.